Aditya's Movie Review Blog

The Descendants (2011)

2012-01-31T22:09:00.001+05:30

Genre: Drama/Comedy

Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause, Patricia Hastie

The life of an average American man who suddenly seems to have too much on his hand to control. Matt King (Clooney) is a lawyer based in Hawaii and lives with his wife and two daughters. His relationship with his wife, Elizabeth (Hastie) is strained and friends and family inform him its because there was a lack of excitement. Elizabeth suffers a jet ski accident and goes into a coma. Its only then that Matt's elder daughter Alexandra (Woodley) informs him of her extra-marital affair with an unknown man. Matt is the sole trustee of a family trust that owns a huge chunk of virgin land on one of the islands. Due to a law his trust would expire in seven years and he has no choice but to sell it. Managing his daughters, his wife's accident, strained marriage and the island deal coming together to one average man makes life hard, very hard. Clooney has done a phenomenal piece of acting and rightfully earns the numerous awards he has received for it. The light comedy sprinkled in the first half of the movie and the dramatic second half is the perfect structure for a movie of its kind and is spot-on. The movie is pretty much flawless but suffers from the drawbacks of the genre of the movie. A movie of its kind can get heavy and is slow, attributes that naturally occur and are unavoidable. A definite watch and gives the viewer a lot to reflect upon.

Thumbs up: Fabulous acting, especially Clooney

Thumbs down: Slow and heavy

Rating: 7.7/10

Agneepath (2012)

2012-01-29T15:56:00.002+05:30

Genre: Crime/Action/Drama

Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Rishi Kapoor, Om Puri

A remake of the 1990 blockbuster starring Amitabh Bachchan, Karan Johar attempts a remake of the original made by his father. Johar, more known for his melodramatic and housewife-ish movies, has created a type-casted genre for himself and its no wonder that critics received the movie with apprehension prior to its release. Loaded violence, street crime and raw aggression is the last thing that anyone would associate Johar with and he has successfully managed to live up to the original movie's reputation. I haven't personally seen the original but word has it that the remake is different in many aspects and reaping largest-ever box office collections in India is certain proof. Vijay Dinanath Chauhan (Roshan) was brought up by his father to be noble and wise and not give in to filth and greed of the streets. His father was wrongly framed and killed tortuously in broad daylight by Kancha (Dutt) the local gangster of the village of Mandwa. Seething with anger and vowing revenge, a young Vijay arrives at the beaches of Mumbai, ready to start a new life. He gets sucked into street crime and joins hands with Rauf Lala (Kapoor) a human-trafficker, Mumbai's largest drug lord and Kancha's enemy. Here he meets his love Kaali (Chopra) and befriends a police officer who wishes to help him take down Kancha once and for all. The movie is powerful and aggressive in every passing moment. Sure, there are up and downs but that is a part and parcel of making a commercial Bollywood movie. The unwanted dance sequences and slow, family drama is like the garnishing on food; unwanted but makes it look good. Roshan and company have put on a fabulous show and Dutt has fulfilled the role of an over-the-top villain with finesse. The movie has superbly incorporated religion, aggression, power and drama in its backdrop to make it highly entertaining and worth the 3 hours it demands. Yes loads of scenes can be simply sliced away to make it faster and better, but that's Bollywood!

Thumbs up: Performance, the character that the movie presents itself with

Thumbs down: Slow and unwanted scenes break the flow

Rating: 8.3/10

All the King's Men (2006)

2012-01-27T22:17:00.001+05:30

Genre: Drama/Biography

Starring: Sean Penn, Mark Ruffalo, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Patricia Clarkson, James Gandolfini, Jackie Earle Haley

Loosely based on Huey Long, Governor of the state of Louisiana, Willie Stark (Penn) worked as a small-town lawyer and was roped by the local political muscle, Tiny Duffy (Gandolfini) to run for governor. What Stark didn't know was that he was being fooled and he wasn't supposed to win. Upon learning of Duffy's ambitions he decides to run as Governor by himself and wins by a landslide. He reached to the poor and promised to uplift them from poverty and was against well-settled city people enjoying all the benefits, much to the ire of large oil companies. Jack Burden (Law) a noted journalist from an elitist family, became Stark's advisor in spite of being advised against taking the position by everyone around him. Stark was accused of creating public services but secretly using them to rob the state of taxpayers money to keep for himself. With these accusations against him, Stark was brought forward for impeachment in the senate and wanted Jack's god-father, Judge Irwin (Hopkins) to be on his side rather than against. Sean Penn is a brilliant adaptive actor which can be seen from Milk and this movie. His role as the Governor, bringing the correct accent and character and the fabulous performances were show-stealing. Not just his but the rest of the cast, including Law, put on fabulous performances and supported his character in every way. With such a line-up its not wrong to keep expectations high but its very wrong when these expectations fall to the ground. The story and plot execution is weak, the movie is very slow and can get a bit boring at times. Mostly its Stark's heavy accent that makes it hard to grasp the developments in the movie, but other elements of storyline also come into play in downplaying the movie greatly. The amazing performances seem to have no outcome whatsoever and the slow progress makes it very dull and boring.

Thumbs up: Strong performances

Thumbs down: Very dull, too slow

Rating: 5.8/10

Cedar Rapids (2011)

2012-01-21T21:53:00.001+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, Anne Heche, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Kurtwood Smith, Sigourney Weaver

An award-winning insurance agency, Brownstar, has been successful so far in winning the Two Diamonds awards given out annually to the best insurance agency. Brownstar insurance agent Tim Lippe (Helms) is selected to represent his company this year at the awards ceremony after the agent who usually took up this task decided to move on in life. Tim has never stepped out of his home town, led a sheltered life and is very immature for his age. He has no idea on how he is supposed to live to his boss's expectations and come back winning the awards. He befriends his roommates Dean Zeigler (Reily) the very man whom his boss asked him to stay away from, and Ronald Wilkes (Whitlock Jr.). He is attraction to Joan (Heche), nervousness about winning the award, learning about independent life the hard way and getting accustomed to reality make those few days seem far longer than they were intended to be. The movie is pretty much your average run-of-the-mill comedy movie but it wont fail to entertain. Its light, funny, cheerful and uplifting and would try very hard to make you smile.

Thumbs up: Light and fun

Thumbs down: Cliched and can slow in parts

Rating: 6.5/10

Gunda (1998)

2012-01-20T21:15:00.000+05:30

Genre: Crime/Drama/Action

Starring: Mithun Chakraborty, Verna Raj, Rana Jung Bahadur, Mohan Joshi, Shakti Kapoor, Razak Khan, Harish Patel, Mukesh Rishi

Speechless. There are these select few movies, rarely found, that manage to be so ultimately horrible that its an amazing watch. Its like the village idiot who lacks every kind of personality but is yet laughed at by all. But don't get me wrong, Gunda would never fall into that category. Its amazingly huge cult following that swear by it can not be wrong. Shankar (Chakraborty) is the common man frustrated with corrupt politicians and the harassment that every individual faces due to gangsters openly walking on the streets. He takes the law into his own hands and decides to bring an end to them once and for all. Bulla (Rishi) is a well-connected gangster that works for a politician and gets rid of his opposition. His sidekicks include Pote (Joshi), Ebu Hatela (Patel) and Bulla's bisexual brother, Chuttiya (Kapoor). Every goon has their own introductory line which they keep narrating every now and then. Bulla claims to keep everything in the open (mein rakhta hoon sab khulla), Chuttiya vows to basically make life horrible even for the best (achche achchon ki khadi karta hoon khatiya), Pote literally means grandson which he claims even your dad wont have (?) (jo tumhare baap ke bhi nahin hote) and Ebu Hatela explains his ancestry and wants you to eat his banana (!) (Maa meri chudail ke beti, baap mera shaitan ka chela, khayega kela?). If these lines crack you up, what would the first 5 minutes of the movie do to you? Google the dialogue list and you would find loads of websites where fans have listed the hilarity. Apart from these award winning dialogues, the movie is pure trash. Skip through the jargon and enjoy the essence. Its a clear case of love and hate and I must say, I'm lovin' it.

Thumbs up: The best script ever!

Thumbs down: Very typical Bollywood B-grade from the '90s

Rating: 7.0/10

Drive (2011)

2012-01-18T13:27:00.002+05:30

Genre: Crime/Action/Drama

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Canston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Ron Perlman

After The Transporter the Americans decided they wanted something like that too; enter Drive. Thankfully, they realised they cant make a blatant copy of the European series and hence decide to twist things up in many ways. Driver (Gosling) is a movie stunt artist who doubles as a getaway driver by night. He gets friendly with his neighbour, Irene (Mulligan) whose imprisoned husband Standard (Isaac) is due to be released. Standard owns protection money to a gang which he was to pay once he gets out. The sum has increased almost ten-fold and is unaffordable to pay back. He arranges a deal where he would help rob a pawn shop as payback and they would never shadow him again. He asks driver for his services. I personally don't agree that the acclaim the movie has garnered is justifiable. Yes its good, no its not phenomenal. The movie has an interesting plot line, performances are superb and the sheer character that the movie keeps is outstanding. It feels inspired from crime-based video games, GTA: Vice City to be precise, but that is open to debate. It has a 90's feel with a hint of film-noir hear and there which makes the approach very interesting. The complete let down is the pace and progress of the plot. One can argue that it adds a lot of character that makes the movie fantastic, but it is still something that the average movie-goer would classify as boring. A must watch for the film-lover and the critic, the rest can give it a shot and see what side of the argument do they fall on.

Thumbs up: Great feel and character, very GTAish

Thumbs down: Slow to progress and build up, needed more pace

Rating: 7.2/10

Scary Movie 4 (2006)

2012-01-15T20:10:00.001+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Spoof/Adventure

Starring: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Craig Bierko, Bill Pullman, Anthony Anderson, Leslie Nielsen, Conchita Campbell, Beau Mirchoff, Kevin Hart

The Scary Movie series of movies can be attributed with the revolution of spoof movies where the plot never really mattered and all that accounted for was the ridiculous humour derived out of current events, TV shows and mostly movies. The fourth installment of the series decides to take on The Village, The Grudge and War of the Worlds. Cindy Campbell (Farris) has taken up a job as nursing an old-aged woman and finds that her house is haunted by a Japanese child who predicts the destruction of Earth and tells Cindy that only she can stop the alien invasion. Tom Ryan (Bierko) is a divorcee who has to take care of his children Rachel (Campbell) and Robbie (Mirchoff). Tom and Cindy are new neighbours and fall in love with each other just as catastrophe strikes Earth with an deadly alien invasion. Cindy along with Brenda (Hall) and Tom must use the Japanese kids advice and stop Earth from ultimate doom. The movie has derived its core plot from a non-horror movie and hence failed to live up to the brand name to an extent. The jokes are only moderately funny and the full extent of the humour can only be absorbed if one is familiar with the movies/personalities that are being spoofed on. You can watch it but you wont miss out on anything if you chose not to.

Thumbs up: Its not easy to make good movie spoofs

Thumbs down: Not very funny

Rating: 5.6/10

Next Day Air (2009)

2012-01-14T15:17:00.002+05:30

Genre: Crime/Drama/Comedy

Starring: Donald Faison, Mike Epps, Wood Harris, Omari Hardwick, Emilio Rivera, Darius McCary, Cisco Reyes, Yasmin Deliz, Lobo Sebastian

There are some movies that make you simply wonder, 'Why'? Why would anyone want to waste all the resources to recreate garbage? Doesn't the world create enough of that already? If you filter the trash, one would find that most of these movies feature African-American crime and comedy that hardly ever appeals to the masses. Leo (Faison) is a simple mail delivery man who delivers post after getting high. In one such instance, he drops of a box full of 10 bricks of cocaine to the wrong house. Guch (Harris) and Brody (Epps) are wannabe gangsters who have befriended a completely unknown person to rob a bank which goes hopelessly wrong. A miscommunication leads them to steal the 'tapes' instead of the 'cash' and now they're broke with no money, until there is a knock on the door and they're delivered an unknown package. Across the hallway, Jesus (Reyes) is awaiting for his coke shipment to arrive from drug lord Bodega (Rivera). The package never comes, Bodega is mad and Jesus is pissing in his pants. Guch and Brody decide to sell the stuff to Brody's cousin Shavoo (Hardwick) not knowing that the package belongs to their friendly neighbour. The movie is the average entertainer with the regular comedy that is often associated from this genre of movie. Watchable, but not commendable.

Thumbs up: Keeps you involved the entire time

Thumbs down: Unexciting and predictable

Rating: 5.8/10

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (2004)

2012-01-12T22:02:00.000+05:30

Genre: Documentary/Musical/Drama/Biography

Starring: James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujillo, Bob Rock, Phil Towle

The world most popular heavy metal band, Metallica were facing a crisis and were at an all time low in their career during the year 2001. The band hasn't toured in three years and just as the band was about to regroup for their 8th album, bassist Jason Newstead decided to quit the band. Newstead was apparently unhappy about the direction in which the band was heading and was unhappy that band leader James Hetfield wasn't allowing Jason to undertake side projects. Hetfield himself was battling drug and alcohol abuse and went into rehabilitation just months after the band started recording. Hetfield was away for over a year and drummer Lars Ulrich along with lead guitarist Kirk Hammett were annoyed with his continued absence. The band had previously hired a therapist, Phil Towle with whose help they wanted to get over their differences, improve performance and get rid of all the negativity. The band started recording once Hetfield returned and band producer Bob Rock filled in as bassist for the album recording until a new bassist, Robert Trujillo, was taken on the band. Metallica has ever since risen out from the ashes and retain their No.1 spot till this day. The documentary focuses on intra-band disagreements, the verge of the band breaking up, their battle with Napster, the making of St. Anger, selection of Trujillo and the eventual album release. It focuses on most of the core areas that any fan would want to know about Metallica and clearly reveals all the ups and downs that the band went through. Dont be mistaken that the movie is only for metal-heads. Apart from the blaring music that would smack a smile on the die-hard fans face, any other person would appreciate the movie and revelation of the functioning of a band. A must watch for fans and a recommended for anyone else.

Thumbs up: Great portrayal of every aspect, personal as well as professional, of each band member

Thumbs down: A boring 2nd part after a strong start and an equally strong end.

Rating: 7.4/10

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)

2012-01-11T22:17:00.000+05:30

Genre: Action/Adventure/Crime

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist, Vladamir Mashkov

The second and third movie of this series was criticised by me for not being impossible enough as the series had initially set out to be. The fourth movie of the series attempts to bring back the character of the first movie and by heavily including a lot of impossible moments in it. Agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) of the Impossible Missions Force (IMF), a discreet wing of the CIA, has to break into the Kremlin and retrieve information on Cobalt (Nyqvist) a leader of a terrorist organisation who intends to get hold of Russian nuclear missile codes and launch them against the United States of America. The Kremlin infiltration goes wrong with a bomb planted by Cobalt going off. The Russian government learns of IMF presence within the Kremlin and declares war on USA. Agent Hunt and his team members, Agent Dunn (Pegg) Agent Carter (Patton) and Analyst Brandt (Renner) must retrieve the codes from Cobalt before he could use them and bring catastrophic damage to the world. The movie is an improvement over what the audience is being served in the previous two attempts and is a far more enjoyable watch. However, the plot line is too basic and predictable and lacks the twists and complications of the previous movie. Hence, although the movie has taken giant leaps of improvement, it fell back on other vital aspects. A great action movie nonetheless.

Thumbs up: Improved from previous movies, addition of more 'impossible' tasks

Thumbs down: Story is too simple and predictable

Rating: 7.3/10

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

2012-01-08T17:24:00.000+05:30

Genre: Crime/Action/Adventure/Thriller/Mystery

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace, Jared Harris, Stephen Fry

'Steps on how to tarnish a brilliant piece of English literature'. Step 1, find Guy Ritchie. Step 2, give him the book. Step 3, ask him to make a movie on it. The earlier movie was widely criticised for being too far-fetched from the original Sherlock Holmes created by Arthur Conan Doyle. The sequel still suffers from the same drawback, making Holmes appear to be a James Bond of the 19th century. Detective Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr.) is investigating a series of murders and terrorist attacks to which he has found a single common link, the widely acclaimed Prof. James Moriarty (Harris). Moriarty is trying to take control of various weapons manufacturing factories and all possible war supplies. In order to fuel the demand for his products, he intends to start a world war. Dr. Watson (Law) Sherlock's close aide has taken time off to get married and enjoy a honeymoon but is rudely interrupted by Holmes and is forced back to work and prevent Moriarty from achieving his objective. The clear improvements in the movie is the aspect of mystery which was largely missing from the earlier movie. The saddest part of the movie is its overtly stretched plot. Had the movie been below a 2-hour runtime, it might have been far more enjoyable and less of a drag. Holmes appears to be an action hero and the entire plot is not derived from any of the books but conjured from thin air. The world loved the novel due to the personality of the character and the story portrayed within it, however, the movie has altered both and hence leaving no real trace of Sherlock except the name. The movie is not for those who loved the book but for those who would drool over mindless action and murder mysteries.

Thumbs up: Twists in the tale

Thumbs down: Not Sherlock in the slightest of ways

Rating: 6.7/10

Mission: Impossible III (2006)

2012-01-03T21:36:00.001+05:30

Genre: Action/Adventure/Crime

Starring: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monoghan, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Maggie Q

Your mission, Agent Hunt (Cruise) is to find and retrieve the Rabbit's Foot, however, we would be unable to provide you with the exact details on what the Rabbit's Foot is and might not directly reveal it to you even at the very end. A notorious criminal Owen Davian (Hoffman) would be selling the Rabbit's Foot to a middle-east buyer and the IMF has no clue on what it is and what it is capable of. Hunt's image has been tarnished after his execution of a mission was not appreciated and his loyalty to the agency became questionable. Hunt decided to take matters in his own hands by apprehending Davian and attempting to retrieve the Rabbit's Foot. The movie series was founded on the idea of a spy performing missions that are otherwise impossible. The first movie stressed on the mission being impossible, showcasing the CIA headquarters break-in. The second movie lacked some aspects of impossibility but yet held on to the core belief. The third movie is completely devoid of any kind of unachievable mission, so much so, the only impossible break-in to steal the Rabbit's Foot was never shown, leaving viewers high and dry. It's like James Bond without his Martini, Jackie Chan without his kung-fu, Austin Powers without the 70's look. The movie is good as any other spy action movie but is a huge let down for the movie series.

Thumbs up: Good action

Thumbs down: Movie doesn't live up to the series' reputation and belief

Rating: 6.7/10

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

2011-12-21T23:01:00.001+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Drama

Starring: Mike Myers, Heather Graham, Michael York, Rob Lowe, Seth Green, Verne Troyer, Mindy Sterling

James Bond, oops, Austin Powers (Myers) returns once again but the element that makes him the man that he is has gone missing. Austin Powers has lost his mojo. Austin Powers has lost his libido. Austin Powers has lost his manhood. Austin Powers cannot shag! That is bad news for Mr. Powers and even worse for the ladies. Dr. Evil (Myers) sent his secret agent, Fat Bastard (Myers) back in time to 1969 to steal Mr. Powers man-ly elements whilst he is frozen. Powers in the year 1999 suddenly realises that something from within him is gone missing and soon learns of Evil's theft in the past. He too decides to go back to 1969 and get his vital organs back in order and also prevent Dr. Evil from bringing down Washington D.C. with a laser beam perched atop the Moon. Along with his oh-so-sexy accomplice, Felicity Shagwell (Graham) Powers must save the world and bring himself back to the ladies. If you think Mike Myers outdid himself with his dual roles of Evil and Powers, he just raised the bar with a third performance of Fat Bastard. The entertainment quotient of the series is ever increasing with the humour, satire and jokes being fabulous and fun. The abrupt ending of Miss Kensington from the previous movie and the absence of Mrs. Kensington in 1969 seems out of place, but who cares really?

Thumbs up: Mike Myers as always

Thumbs down: Awkward plot line

Rating: 7.5/10

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

2011-12-21T22:28:00.001+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Crime

Starring: Mike Myers, Elizabeth Hurley, Michael York, Robert Wagner, Seth Green, Fabiana Udenio

What would happen if Jim Carrey would play the role of James Bond? You would get Austin Powers (Myers). The British Spy whose every move gives woman orgasms on the street, whose suave style and character are loved by all and the sole person on the planet who can put an end to Dr. Evil (Myers). Its England in the year 1967 when Dr. Evil freezes himself and escapes from Powers to outer space and promises to return again. Not to get outdone, Powers freezes himself too in order to be ready when Evil decides to return. 30 years later, Evil returns once again with plans of world domination and Austin Powers is reborn. The flashy colours of the 60's, the freedom of unprotected sex, the boot-cut trousers and his overtly sexual character are a complete misfit in this era and our spy is finding a hard time to adjust himself. Along with his accomplice, Miss Kensington (Hurley) Austin must stop Dr. Evil from planting a nuclear warhead inside the Earths core which would make every volcano explode. The movie is loaded with satire, humour, spoofs and is made not to make any sense but to simply roll you over with laughter. Myers steals the show with his dual performances of Evil and Powers. Its his British humour, awkwardly humorous scenes and the 60's misfit style are simply fabulous. Its shagadelic baby!

Thumbs up: Mike Myers and the amazing humour

Thumbs down: Some slow scenes that break the flow

Rating: 7.5/10

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (3D) (2011)

2011-12-19T03:11:00.002+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Drama

Starring: Kal Penn, John Cho, Thomas Lennon, Amir Blumenfeld, Paula Garces, Danny Trejo

Harold (Cho) & Kumar (Penn) have entertained audiences in the past when they went to White Castle and Guantanamo Bay. The two best friends perpetually landed themselves in trouble with Harold trying to figure a more reasonable way out and Kumar chosing something more radical. The two friends have not parted ways with Harold tired of Kumar's continued immaturity and not being able to accept adulthood. He has settled down with Maria (Garces) and Maria's family decides to drop in for Christmas. Her father Carlos Perez (Trejo) is a very religious person and believes in celebrating Christmas with all his heart. Harold and him dont get along and Carlos has entrusted Harold with the task of decorating a Christmas tree that he has been growing for years for this special occassion. Kumar is still spending time like a college graduate, smoking weed all day long and finds a package with Harold's name on his doorstep. Not having seen him in all these years he decided to pay him a visit and give the package. Kumar, ever-famous for his blunders, puts Carlos' tree on fire and the two now need to look for a new tree and decorate it before he returns home. The movies have consistently focussed on the duo and their misfortunate events but what made them famous and loved was the slapstick and enjoyable humour. Penn, as usual, brings in all the sex and stupid humour which seemed to lack finesse and character. The movie doesnt have humour like the previous movies, gets extremely boring during unwanted melodramatic scenes and lacks a different plot. Fails to live up to the brands name and a big let down for fans.

Thumbs up: Very few selected scenes that have the Harld & Kumar essence

Thumbs down: Horrible humour, extremely boring at times

Rating: 5.8/10

Puss in Boots (2011)

2011-12-17T17:56:00.002+05:30

Genre: Animation/Adventure/Comedy/Drama/Action/Fantasy/Crime

Starring (voice): Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris

The innocent, brown furred, black-eyed, Spaniard cat from Shrek gets a movie to his own name. Puss in Boots (Banderas) is an outlaw who loots and plunders, not from the innocent, but from those who deserve it, much like Robin Hood. He learns about the magic beanstalk with the Golden Goose that lives high up in the Giants castle and lays golden eggs He embarks on an adventure to find the magic beans when he crosses paths with Kitt Softpaws (Hayek) a cat much like him, out for the same objective. His adventures lead him to once again come face to face with Humpty Dumpty (Galifianakis) an old friend who started stealing from the innocent and hence parted ways. Humpty and Puss had a childhood ambition of growing the beanstalk and now Humpty knows how exactly to do it and needs Puss' help once more. The character of Puss was loved and applauded by all for his cute and suave Latino style. With the Shrek series coming to an end, Dreamworks' attempt at reviving old fairy tales and portraying them contrarty to our normal beliefs might have failed in this attempt. Shrek was loved for its humour and unique plot line, however, Puss in Boots fails on both those aspects with below average humour and an extremely predictable story. Targeted towards young kids, the movie needs heavy humour that the audience could associate with and not the rude, sarcastic and slightly sexual comedy that the movie banks upon. A let-down for people who expected the Shrek magic once more.

Thumbs up: Unique blend of various fairytale characters

Thumbs down: Boring humour, hopeless attempt at being entertaining

Rating: 6.2/10

Unknown (2011)

2011-12-15T01:22:00.000+05:30

Genre: Drama/Thriller/Crime/Action/Mystery

Starring: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz, Sebastian Koch

Liam Neeson will forever be known for his contemporary spy movies and this one adds to the list. Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) is a professor in biotechnology who has come with his wife Elizabeth (Jones) for a biotechnology summit to Berlin, Germany. He accidentally leaves his briefcase, with his passport inside it. at the airport and injures his head when the taxi has an accident and falls into the river. Falling into a coma, Martin wakes up only four days later and finds his wife not around with him. Everybody he earlier knew refuse to recognise him, his identity stolen by an impostor (Quinn) and with no identity to prove himself he finds himself to be an unknown. With faint traces of his memory after arriving in Berlin, the only person he remembers in Gina (Kruger) the taxi driver who rescued him from drowning. Along with Gina he needs to find his true identity and unravel the mystery behind the 'fake' Martin Harris. The movie is very typical and the role of Martin Harris seems to tailor made for Neeson. His fabulous performance, supported by Kruger, add a lot of character to the movie and make it an interesting watch. The commendable aspect being that till the very end the movie is packing surprises for you, just when you thought you had it all figured out. The sad part, however, is that in the midst of all the twists and turns, there are multiple lose ends that the movie conveniently forgets to tie together leading to gaping visible flaws in the story. All in all, a great Neeson movie that reminded me, oddly, of Taken.

Thumbs up: Neeson and the entertaining plot

Thumbs down: Lose ends in the plot that were never answered

Rating: 7.5/10

Minority Report (2002)

2011-12-15T00:24:00.000+05:30

Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Crime/Thriller/Drama/Mystery

Starring: Tom Cruise, Max von Sydow, Samantha Morton, Collin Farrell

How do reduce crime in the city? Prevent crime from ever happening of course. Three mutated human beings, called Precogs, gain the gift of seeing the future and detecting murder. Washington D.C. sets up a Precrime department, headed by John Anderton (Cruise), whose task is to learn of any murders predicted by the Precogs and prevent them from happening. With the high success ratio of the operation that the city experiences, Precrime is going national and a member of the Department of Justice, Danny Witwer (Farrell) is sent to evaluate the effectiveness of the department before the crucial decision is taken. Since Precrime solely relies on the vision obtained by the Precogs, the possibility of the actual murder not taking place exists and the question arises, how can you arrest someone for a crime they never did but were only forecasted to do. John staunchely believes in Precrime and its ideology but found himself on the other side of the line when a crime to be conducted by him is foretold, where he supposedly is to murder a man he has never met. John tries to prove the prediction wrong and runs against the very ideology that a crime, if predicted, will happen. The movie is layered with multiple stories that all go in the direction to fathom the dilemma that arises out of the ideology of the Precrime department. Tom Cruise has put on a fabulous performance and is not action focused as his more recent movies and comes out as a more contemporary actor who can do serious acting. The movie's storyline is unique and interesting and coming from the notable Steven Speilberg, one expects as much.

Thumbs up: Tom Cruise and the plot
Thumbs down: Repeatedly fast and slow, pace changing plot development

Rating: 7.9/10

Dirty Harry (1971)

2011-12-14T19:58:00.000+05:30

Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller/Action

Starring: Clint Eastwood, Andrew Robinson, John Vernon, Reni Santoni

The city of San Fransisco is facing a sadistic serial murderer calling himself Scorpio (Robinson) who would stop at nothing to extort money from the city. If he doesn't get what he demands for, a life would be lost. Faced with dilemma of fueling crime versus saving the people, the Mayor (Vernon) appoints Inspector Harry Callahan (Eastwood) the task of finding and arresting the lunatic. However, getting hold of him seems harder than what Callahan had anticipated leading to a cat and mouse chase for the rest of the movie. The movie showcases Eastwood's evergreen and fine performances that have always gripped and thrilled audiences. What the movie lacked was a unique plot development and perhaps even some twists. Unfortunately the killer and his identity were revealed early on in the movie leaving no surprises for the audience. All that ensued was Callahan chasing Scorpio and his attempts at apprehending him. The movie is raw and tries to be as practical as possible by showcasing how crime is tackled in the real world, but you wish it had something unexpected to turn up right towards the end. It's a movie after all.

Thumbs up: Clint Eastwood, raw performances

Thumbs down: A bland plot which needs some more spice

Rating: 6.9/10

Mission: Impossible II (2000)

2011-12-14T17:35:00.000+05:30

Genre: Action/Crime/Drama

Starring: Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, Ving Rhames, Richard Roxburgh, John Polson, Brendan Gleeson, Rade Serbedzija

The second movie of the acclaimed Mission Impossible movie, Agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) returns once again to recover the dangerous virus, Chimera and its cure, Bellerophon from the hands of former IMF Agent Sean Ambrose (Scott). Dr. Nekhorvich (Serbedzija) was forced by his employers at Biocyte to produce a monstrous virus, Chimera which can effectively kill a person within 20 hours and also create its cure which could be then sold to the world at astronomical rates. Nekhorvich is intercepted by Ambrose before he can hand over the virus and the cure to the IMF and is killed. Ambrose intends to sell the stolen drugs back to Biocyte and thus ensuring a healthy profit for himself. Hunt along with the help of a professional thief and Ambrose's ex-girlfriend, Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Newton) must recover the virus and the cure before all hell breaks lose. The concept of the first movie was to portray an impossible mission and not merely something that is difficult. The impossibility factor is lacking in the movie along with the aspect of a mystery and a strong climax. The movie also includes a romantic angle which slows the pace greatly. All that said and done, the movie packs a lot of punch and adrenaline-rushing action which makes up the flaws to an extent. Perhaps if the mission was more 'impossible' and not merely 'find and retrieve' it would have lived up to the first movie's expectations.

Thumbs up: Amazing action

Thumbs down: Mission difficult, not impossible

Rating: 6.9/10

Mission: Impossible (1996)

2011-12-12T12:39:00.000+05:30

Genre: Action/Crime/Mystery

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Beart, Henry Czerny, Jean Reno, Ving Rhames, Vanessa Redgrave

The Impossible Missions Force (IMF) is a secret wing of the CIA whose agents try to execute operations that are quite impossible. Agent Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his team are preventing an American diplomat in Prague from stealing the CIA's non-official cover (NOC) list which would reveal the identities of all their agents and spies in eastern Europe. His team goes down save himself and, to his surprise, Claire Phelps (Beart). The IMF Director Kittridge (Czerny) reveals that the entire operation was a hoax to spot a mole in the IMF and the actual NOC list was safe in Langley. The IMF suspects Hunt to be the mole and is now wanted by his own boss. The movie was conceived from a famous television series where Agent Hunt was the main protagonist of the show, trying to fulfill the hardest of missions. The movie attempts at being a modern day James Bond who performs the most insane of stunts that you could ever imagine. The climax action-sequence atop the TGV is a bit too hard to imagine with choppers inside tunnels pushing things a bit too far. Overall, a great action movie which needs a more spicy storyline to make it even better

Thumbs up: Tom Cruise, the break-in scene inside the CIA headquarters

Thumbs down: A slightly bland plot with hard to imagine action sequences

Rating: 7.0/10

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

2011-12-08T11:31:00.001+05:30

Genre: Action/Adventure/Science-fiction/Drama/Fantasy

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L.Jackson, Frank Oz (voice)

The epic inter-galactic saga comes to an end after five successful movies with the sixth movie aiming to bring a end to the entire story. The movie had garnered millions of fans from throughout the world of all ages, right from those who have seen the very first movie back in 1977 to their sons who enjoyed the prequel movies. Anakin Skywalker (Christensen) is a Jedi warrior and is in love with Padme (Portman). Senator Palpatine (McDiarmid) has been kidnapped by the enemies of the republic and Anakin along with Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor) must rescue him. The Jedi council and particularly Master Yoda (Oz) had their doubts on Anakin and were not sure if the force within him was for good or for bad. Anakin breached the Jedi's regulations by submitting himself to desire and want by fathering a child with Padame. Anakin saw a vision of Padame dying during childbirth but did not know what he could do to stop it without the Jedi council knowing about it. Senator Palpatine is in reality the Sith Lord who realised that the dark side was strong within Anakin and lured him to join hands with the context of being able to save Padame. The greatest achievement of the movie is its ability to fluidly join the story lines together although the first movie began halfway through the story. Episode III and Episode IV might have been made around 30 years apart yet each and every aspect of new vs old have been cunningly brought together with adequate detailing on the finer aspects. The movie, however, failed to bring out a high climax which would have been deservedly fit for a saga of its kind. That said, it does give a good closing feature which gives you the impression that it has finally all come to an end. This movie is perhaps the most dissected and detailed movie ever, with every vehicle, army, planet and character having a name and story behind it. A worthy finishing movie with only some minor drawbacks.

Thumbs up: Good ending, highly entertaining

Thumbs down: Climax sequence is a bit weak

Rating: 7.5/10

Rat Race (2001)

2011-12-05T15:58:00.001+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Adventure

Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Breckin Meyer, Cuba Gooding Jr., Vince Vieluf, Seth Green, Whoopi Goldberg, Lanei Chapman, John Cleese, Jon Lovitz, Kathy Najimy, Amy Smart

The owner of the Venetian Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Donald Sinclair (Cleese) is probably the most self-proclaimed eccentric man ever. He realised that the rich and famous are bored of the normal card games played in the casino and want to bet on something more irrational and fun. From 'which chamber maid can hang from a rod the longest', 'how much would a hooker charge for doing something very absurb' to, of course, the rat race. 6 groups of people were picked at random from the casino to take part in a cross country race to Silver Springs, New Mexico where the winner wins $2 million. Sinclair and his friends get to bet on who they think would be the winner. Football referee Owen Templeton (Gooding Jr.) has lost his reputation for messing up a coin toss during the recent game and fans would willingly beat him up on sight. Petty cooks and brothers Duane (Green) and Blaine Cody (Vieluf) have achieved nothing in life and think this might just be it. Vera Baker (Goldberg) has just met her long lost daughter Merill Jennings (Chapman). Nick Schaffer (Meyer) has no intentions of taking part in the race, however, his flight to Chicago is grounded, thanks to the Cody brothers, and he meets a helicopter pilot Tracy (Smart) who is heading towards Silver Springs. Since she is going there after all, and since he cant get to Chicago, he reckoned he might as well get back to the race. Enrico Pollini (Atkinson) a narcoleptic Italian keeps falling off to sleep at completely random places, only to wake up and continue onwards. Randy Pear (Lovitz) is a gambling-addict who has come with his family to Vegas on vacation. He lies to his family that he has work in Silver Springs and keeps cooking up stories on the way. The movie is funny and is a sure-shot dose of entertainment. You might not fall off your seat though, but it would give you a pretty good laugh!

Thumbs up: Great humour

Thumbs down: Everything else

Rating: 6.8/10

The Drity Picture (2011)

2011-12-05T10:52:00.001+05:30

Genre: Drama/Musical/Biography/Romance

Starring: Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi, Tusshar Kapoor, Rajesh Sharma

Does sex sell? Well at least India's queen of melodramatic soap operas intends to find that out. A true-life story of a south Indian porn star, the movie explores how sex was used, and might still be used, to sell a movie. Ironically the movie itself employs conservative Vidya Balan to shed everything that covers her to add enough oomph to the movie to make it more appealing to audiences. Reshma aka Silk (Balan) aspired to be in the movies and ran away from home to head towards Madras where she aspired to realise her dreams. Film producer Selvaganesh (Sharma) discovers her and her willingness to reveal everything on screen and decides to feature her in some songs opposite the super-star of south Indian cinema, Suryakant (Shah). Surya is notorious for his affairs with young aspiring actresses and satisfies his sexual desires with Silk who in the meantime gets a lot of movie offers due to her 'friendship' with Surya. Contemporary director Abraham (Hashmi) wants to reach Hollywood and hates using sexuality and added 'spice' to sell the movie. Although he makes fabulous films that win him awards, it does not get him any money at the box office. Suryakants brother Ramakant (Kapoor) is attracted to Silk after a fallout between his brother and her and romances her. The movie aspired to shatter Indian mainstream cinema with Balan's three-inch-deep-cleavage with truckloads of sex and vulgarity to reveal the inside on-goings of the industry. Sadly the only focus of the movie seems to be Balan and every other characters presence being very rigid and structured. Enter, do your bit, and move out of the script all together. Since the focus has been on Vidya Balan throughout, her transformation from rags to riches has been shown with a good evolution. Even her appearance, gradual weight-gain, and puff on her right cheek were taken care of and shown with subtlety. If its Balans navel and exposed thighs that you aspire then the movie beckons for you, else go watch something else.

Thumbs up: Vidya Balan and the focus on her character, Awesome dialogues add humour

Thumbs down: Poor piecing together of the plot, poor supporting cast performance, predictable and a bit boring

Rating: 5.6/10

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

2011-12-03T16:40:00.001+05:30

Genre: History/Biography/War/Action/Drama/Adventure

Starring: Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Martin Csokas, Brendan Gleeson, Jeremy Irons, Edward Norton, Alexander Siddig

Recounting the heavily fictionalised tale of Balian of Ibelin (Bloom) a French blacksmith who journeys to Jerusalem after meeting his estranged father. He forgives his fathers mistakes and in return is knighted by him just before he dies. Balian arrives in Jerusalem at the court of King Baldwin IV(Norton) and serves the king just like his father would. Jerusalem being the holy city for both Muslims and Christians, it was subject to heavy war with both sides trying to gain control over it. King Baldwin does not believe in anti-Muslim killings and hence does not support the Knights Templar that kills Muslims mercilessly and hence peace prevails. The Kings sister Sybilla (Green) is married to Guy de Lusignan (Csokas) who is waiting for the leprosy stricken King to succumb and hence become king of Jerusalem and kill all the Muslims. The movie recounts the true incidents that took place during the Crusades of the 12th century and recalls the story of Balian of Ibelin although it may not be historically accurate. Coming from the stable of Ridley Scott, the very man that gave us Gladiator and American Gangster, the movie is a very big let down. There is no visible plot for quite a bit and the plot development is slow and boring. Edward Norton's performance was a waste especially since he was forever behind a mask. Orlando Bloom failed to live up to the expectations of creating an exciting movie and story in general was extremely immature and predictable. A very typical medieval heroism movie that probably should never have been made.

Thumbs up: Nothing exceptionally stands out

Thumbs down: Orlando Bloom, story and execution

Rating: 6.3/10

Chinatown (1974)

2011-11-30T10:23:00.001+05:30

Genre: Crime/Mystery/Drama/Thriller

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Fayne Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez

A classic, multiple award winning and well-renowned movie, Chinatown is based upon the murder of Hollis Mulwray an engineer at the Los Angeles water department. The government wants to build a dam to provide water to the city which Mulwray is against building. His wife Evelyn Mulwray hires private investigator J.J. 'Jack' Gittes (Nicholson) to investigate on her husbands affair with another woman. Jack unveils the affair and plasters it across newspapers, subsequently Holwray is found dead near a reservoir with Gittes suspecting it to be murder. He is later confronted by the Mrs. Mulwray (Dunaway) and realises that the earlier lady was an impostor. Gittes wants to get to the bottom of who would pose as Mrs. Mulwray to hire him and who and why murdered Mr. Mulwray. Spoiler alert, the following lines have to do with the movies climax. The movie progresses in a superb manner, gaining a lot of attention to the point that you itch to know how the plot unveils. The biggest let down is the final climax which does not come open as any other murder mystery would. Its quite dramatic, different from the approach of the greater part of the movie and doesn't suit the character of Gittes. It does not believe in a happy ending and may not appeal to all, at least not to me. For once perhaps if the movie followed a more conventional approach it might have been better but at the same time lets not forget all the accolades the movie has garnered and assume that it is right in its own part. Jack Nicholson has delivered in an amazing manner and the movie constantly reminds one of the famous Perry Mason series of murder mystery novels and the movie, along with Gittes' character seem to be inspired from there, although there is no official confirmation of it. The best bet you got for a murder mystery with the film noir feel to it.

Thumbs up: Jack Nicholson, amazing plot and mystery

Thumbs down: Unconventional climax contrary to the movies approach

Rating: 8.0/10

Assassins (1995)

2011-11-24T11:06:00.001+05:30

Genre: Crime/Action/Drama/Thriller

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Antonia Banderas, Julianne Moore

Hit men movies are not uncommon to Hollywood and two having two assassins is not going to make things any different. Robert Rath (Stallone) is an accomplished assassin and is said to be the best in the business. His daily routine is shattered when he discovers that his targets are being stolen by another assassin, Miguel Bain (Banderas). Bain is an over-enthusiastic newcomer to the business and looks up to Rath and has made him his mentor. Rath once had a Russian friend, Nicoli, whom he killed to become the best assassin available, a technique that Bain now wishes to apply. Rath befriends a target Electra (Moore) whom he agreed to team with to defeat Bain for mutual benefit. The movie plot is quite average with predictable results and some scenes make you think, 'Wait, how did that happen again?' The things to watch out for is the entertaining action and Banderas' psychotic performance to an extent. There really is nothing in the movie for any viewer except for raw action sequences with added flavours of Stallone and Banderas fighting it out.

Thumbs up: Entertaining action, Banderas

Thumbs down: Story

Rating: 6.5/10

Another Day in Paradise (1998)

2011-11-23T11:09:00.001+05:30

Genre: Crime/Drama

Starring: James Woods, Melanie Griffith, Vincent Kartheiser, Natasha Gregson Wagner

A small time crook, Bobbie (Kartheiser), mugged people and broke into slot machines to get money for his daily dose of dope for him and his girlfriend Rosie (Wagner). Not even of age yet, the two are complete junkies and are a waste in life. Mel (Woods) a more accomplished criminal discovers Bobbie and decides to introduce him to bigger loots, and along with his live-in girlfriend Sid (Griffith) they start to train him. Life is good, money is good and everyone is having a good time when suddenly things start to get very ugly and the 'kids' Bobbie and Rosie start to realise that this might not be what they actually wanted in life. Near death experiences, differences, fights all start eating into their lives and what seemed to be gold on the outside turned out to be ugly rotten filth on the inside. The movie starts on a decently high note but development is slow, boring, predictable and not all that entertaining. Performances are mediocre and there are far better movies on speed-junkies and crime that the world has seen.

Thumbs up: Good start

Thumbs down: Bad plot development, boring and predictable

Rating: 6.2/10

Cars 2 (2011)

2011-11-21T10:54:00.001+05:30

Genre: Action/Adventure/Animation/Comedy/Sports/Drama

Starring (voice): Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Eddie Izzard, John Turturro

A sequel to the first Cars movie, British industrialist Sir Miles Axlerod (Izzard) launches a new bio fuel after realising that fossil fuels are quickly degrading the world. To launch this fuel he is holding a World Grand Prix, a race that would see the top drivers from various motor sports battle it out on three different locations to prove the reliability of the fuel. Lightning McQueen (Wilson) is on the race and this time he decides to bring Mater (Cable Guy) along for the race. Finn McMissile (Caine) James Bonds Aston Martin DB5, is a British spy who is investigating a TV camera and its hidden functionality. Along with his sidekick, Holley Shiftwell (Mortimer) they are to rendezvous with an American spy at the World Grand Prix launch party, who has further information on the case. The American gets cornered and in an act of desperation, plants the device, holding the information, on Mater. McMissile and Shitwell track the device and assume Mater to be a very well disguised spy which according to Mater becomes the adventure of his life. The movie replicates human life very interestingly on cars. It's fun to hunt for the finer details and get amused at the thought process that went behind it. The only let down in the movie was the lack of good humour and comedy. Sure the movie is enticing and would definitely grasp the attention of kids, especially if its your kid brother, but it still lacks the ability to make you roll over with laughter.

Thumbs up: Superb animation, extremely gripping

Thumbs down: Not funny enough although it is entertainment-packed

Rating: 7.0/10

Hereafter (2010)

2011-11-19T09:49:00.001+05:30

Genre: Drama/Fantasy

Starring: Matt Damon, Cecile De France, Theirry Neuvic, Frankie McLaren, George McLaren

Three people, each with their own worries and miseries, unknown to each other finally discover solace. Set against the backdrop of two world disasters, the south east Asian tsunami and the London tube bombings, the movie narrates the struggle that each one is facing with the matter of death. George Lonegan (Damon) is an American psychic who unlike others in the business has some truly unique powers which allow him to make a connection with the dead and convey messages. He cant run his life this way anymore and wants to get the so called 'power' out of him in order to run a normal life. A French TV anchor Marie Lelay (France) has a near death experience in a tsunami while holiday in Asia which shakes her life and she is hunting for answers. Two British twins, Marcus (McLaren) and Jason (McLaren) cant seem to lead their lives without each other when Jason suddenly dies in a freak road accident. Marcus cant seem to get over his brothers death and has been gloomy and sad ever since. He is trying to find someone who can answer his problems but finds no one. Half an hour into the movie and you realise its going the Babel way where the individual plots would eventually merge. There really is no fault with the plots per se but the coming together of the entire storyline was predictable to some extent and not all that dramatic and lacked a certain degree of climax.Coming from the Clint Eastwood stable, one expects much more and something far better and that said, its not all that bad either.

Thumbs up: Some good pieces of acting, enticing plot line

Thumbs down: Weak climax, end is not as impressive as one would have liked it to be

Rating: 7.2/10

Smokin' Aces (2006)

2011-11-17T10:49:00.001+05:30

Genre: Action/Crime/Mystery

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, Common, Alicia Keys, Andy Garcia, Taraji P. Henson, Tommy Flanagan

Narrating the story of the dirty world of Vegas, the movie depicts crime rings, mob bosses and FBI. Buddy Isreal (Piven) is a Vegas award-winning entertainer who enters the crime world and gets affiliated with mob boss Primo Sparazza. Due to differences between Sparazza and Israel, they part ways and Sparazza now wants Israel dead and not just dead, wants his beating heart in his hand. He has hired the mysterious 'Swede' as a person to carry out the operation, of whom the FBI has no record. Word gets around of the 1 million bounty and hit men, mass murderers and assassins run amok to get their hands on Israel first. FBI Deputy Director Locke (Garcia) is in talks with Israel on an immunity deal and Agent Messner (Reynolds) and Agent Carruthers (Liotta) are sent to secure Israel from the 'Swede'. The movie in a way reminds one of a Guy Ritchie movie sans the humour and sarcasm. It is a decent attempt at showing multiple hit men gunning for a common target but the movie is still off the mark and along with some additional elements it could have been made much better. Some unwanted dramatic bits but showcases Vegas crime and glamour quite aptly.

Thumbs up: A nice action and crime entertainer

Thumbs down: Lacks that 'feeling' or 'punch' before you can really start to appreciate it

Rating: 6.8/10

Two for the Money (2005)

2011-11-14T10:22:00.001+05:30

Genre: Drama/Romance/Sports/Biography

Starring: Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, Rene Russo

Brandon Lang (McConaughey) is a football professional who had to taken an early retirement due to a career-ending injury. He started advising people on the kind of bets they should put on football games due to his intense knowledge of the players and their strategies. His high and consistent accuracy rate got the attention of Walter (Pacino) a New York based betting adviser, one of the largest in the country, who trains him and shows him how he could put his skills to better use. He creates a fake identity of John Anthony who is the slick, sharp and confident New Yorker as against the more bland and sober Brandon. Brandon slowly climbs the career graph were money, woman and all the sins of the world are easily thrown at his feet. The movie kicks off on a decently high note, but as it progresses further, it soon becomes evident that it is another rags to riches story where money does more harm than good and the inevitable downfall. The movie is based on the true life story of a certain Brandon Lang who had experienced a similar life as depicted by John Anthony. The movie tries to bank upon Al Pacino who delivers the usual filthy-rich businessman who has no worry in the world and is shown to be super-smart and cunning. A pretty average movie that could have been far better.

Thumbs up: A good start, good adaptation of a real life story

Thumbs down: Predictable outcome, poor performances

Rating: 6.5/10

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) (3D)

2011-11-12T14:35:00.001+05:30

Genre: Action/Adventure/Mystery/Crime/Animation

Starring (voice): Daniel Craig, Jamie Bell, Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Nick Frost

When a legend is recreated, everyone is apprehensive if the legend would be made even more legendary. The Tintin comic book series by the famous Belgian, Herge has won fans around the world and has been recreated in many forms. The latest adaptation comes from Steven Speilberg and his attempt at making a movie on the adventures of the young Belgian journalist according to whom this is his take on a childrens version of Indiana Jones. Tintin (Bell) and his faithful dog Snowy spot a unique model ship known as the Unicorn and instantly falls in love with it and purchases it. Soon after, a horde of people try to buy it off him with the ship eventually going missing from his apartment. Tintin realises that something indeed must be unique to the ship if so many people are behind it and eventually discovers the secret of the Unicorn. Ivanovich Sakharine (Craig) has taken Captain Haddock's (Serkis) ship as his own and is trying to locate the treasure of the legendary pirate, Red Rackham. With Tintin holding a piece of the puzzle to the location, Sakharine must get it from him before Tintin discovers what he is up to. Don't let the movie title fool you because the movie is not entirely based on 'The Secret of the Unicorn'. In fact only the first quarter, with some heavy improvements and modifications, is based on the afore mentioned comic, the second quarter from 'The Crab With Golden Claws', the third quarter being the scriptwriters own creation and the final quarter coming from 'Red Rackhams Treasure'. The red Jeep Willy from 'Land of Black Gold' makes a special appearance too. Amalgamating so many books into a movie could have had disastrous consequences but the movie doesn't really come out too bad. The third quarter, which isn't part of any book but a creation for the movie, is probably the most disastrous part especially the over-the-top crane scene which seemed completely out of place for the era in which the movie is set. Apart from that, the fluidity in which the various books merge into each other is amazing. The animations used in the movie are extremely sharp and life-like which definitely sets the bar for modern-day graphics. Another missing element in the movie which made people love Tintin was the humour. Although Thompson (Pegg) and Thomson (Frost) were present, their presence did not carry too much humour and comedy, a missing ingredient from an otherwise fun-to-watch flick. And this comes from a die hard Tintin fan.

Thumbs up: Superb animation, great adaptation of multiple comic books

Thumbs down: More of the twin inspectors and their humour, the crane scene and the dam scene seemed out of place

Rating: 8.0/10

Bruce Almighty (2003)

2011-11-11T10:31:00.001+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Fantasy/Romance/Drama

Starring: Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell, Philip Baker Hall

Every time something in our life goes wrong we curse god, we curse our luck and we wish our life could be better. Who wouldn't want the power of god to change our own world for good? But gaining gods responsibility is not as easy as it might look. Bruce Nolan (Carrey) is a TV news reporter who never got the big stories but was stuck with the smaller insignificant stuff. Frustrated with his life, his bad luck and how things are just not working out, he curses god (Freeman) who decides to teach Bruce a lesson. He grants Bruce all of his powers and tells him to the job of being god for a while and see how it is. Bruce has a field day with his wife Grace (Aniston), he improves his life at work and does the biggest mistake of granting every ones wishes to be true. The movie portrays our perception of god and how at times we wish for something but at the same time don't know the consequences of what we wish for. We might want something but if given the opportunity to grant that desire, we might just think twice about what we asked for. The movie is a good mix of comedy and romance and with Jim Carrey doing the slapstick stuff it can never get any better. A light entertainer which makes you laugh and improves your mood.

Thumbs up: Jim Carrey, an overall decent entertainer

Thumbs down: More humour maybe?

Rating: 6.8/10

The Wrestler (2008)

2011-11-10T12:06:00.001+05:30

Genre: Drama/Sports

Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood

As children, we all grew up watching hard-bodied, tough men wring it out in the wrestling arena. We all once harboured ambitions to be like them and be as hardcore as possible. And we all knew somewhere in the back of our minds that it is all fake and made up but never wanted to listen to that voice in our head. Randy 'The Ram' (Rourke) is a professional wrestler whose glory days were in the '80's but is fight old age and illness and continues to wrestle. He doesn't lead the life like we would all imagine wrestlers to lead but lives off a trailer park, makes measly money in the fights, and is like just another average person in the showbiz. He tries to romance a stripper Cassidy (Tomei) and get back to his estranged daughter Stephanie (Wood) in a bid to redeem his life and mistakes. The movie mostly revolves around the life of Randy and Cassidy, both in the show business with demanding skills. In Randy's life people within his show love him but in the real world he is a nobody and people don't care for him. For Cassidy it is the exact opposite who isn't cared or loved for in the club but has a family and children with people around her to love and care for her. The movie shows the true world of wrestling and the demands some professional skills have on people just so that the average person is entertained.

Thumbs up: Fabulous performance, good paradoxical story
Thumbs down: Slow, would have been more interesting had it been based on a true life incident

Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988)

2011-11-09T18:28:00.000+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Action/Adventure

Starring: Bubba Smith, David Graf, Michael Winslow, Leslie Easterbrook, Marion Ramsey, Janet Jones, Lance Kinsey, Matt McCoy, G.W. Bailey, George Gaynes, Rene Auberjonois

The fifth installment of the Police Academy series shifts base to the exotic Miami when Comdt. Eris Lassard (Gaynes) gets kidnapped. Captain Harris (Bailey) is as usual trying to overthrow Lassard and take over his position and has learnt that Lassard has crossed the state mandatory retirement age and is overdue to vacate the post. Lassard is always being awarded the police officer of the decade at Miami and he invites his trusted officers to accompany him for the ceremony. Tony (Auberjonois) is a thief who recently stole some diamonds but accidentally managed to switch bags with Lassard at the airport. With his diamonds with Lassard, he decides to kidnap him to extract them with Lassard's team hot on his trail. The movies in this series were never really high on entertainment with average humour, predictable plot and weak acting. A lot of the actors and characters were subject to shuffling, with the latest being Steve Guttenberg who played the lead role of Carrey Mahoney who was absent from this movie. An avoidable movie only to watch if you really need something light and simplistic.

Thumbs up: Nothing exceptional

Thumbs down: Humour and acting

Rating: 4.6/10

Biutiful (2010)

2011-11-08T17:31:00.001+05:30

Genre: Drama

Starring: Javier Bardem, Maricel Alvarez, Hanna Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella, Eduard Fernandez, Diaryatou Daff, Cheng Tai Shen

Set in Barcelona, Spain, the plot revolves around Uxbal (Bardem) a man with an unstable and weak income who would do just about anything to make some money. From talking to the dead, selling replicated designer wear and trafficking Chinese labourers, Uxbal is the man you would want to approach if your stuck in the mud. Uxbal seperated from his wife Marambra (Alvarez) due to her mental condition and her inability to look after their two children Ana (Bouchaib) and Mateo (Estrella). Uxbal is suffering from cancer and has only a few months to survive. In these few months he needs to sort many things in his life out to make sure that his children have a safe and happy future. Mambra is desperate to get back to him and with no other person to trust his children with, Uxbal is forced to accept her in his life once more much to his despise. His worries seem to be endless with his children's future being the pinnacle of the lot. The movie seems to be a bit 'arty' and may not be the conventional movie one wold come across in theatres. The performances of Javier Bardem, Maricel Alvarez and everyone else is simply outstanding and merits those endless awards the movie has received. The only reason to watch this movie is to enjoy the fabulous acting and the fine plot execution that the movie enjoys. Yes it is slow and can get a bit boring for some but that is how one would expect a movie of this particular genre to turn out to be. Sheer brilliance I tell you!

Thumbs up: Great performances

Thumbs down: Slow for some

Rating: 7.7/10

Ra.One (2011)

2011-11-02T13:01:00.001+05:30

Genre: Action/Drama/Romance/Science-fiction

Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Tom Wu, Armaan Verma, Shahana Goswami

Time and gain I have said that Bollywood lacks recipe and in spite of rapid evolutions in movie-making, ideas still seemed to be ripped out of Hollywood blockbusters. Shekhar Subramanium (Khan) is a game developer for Barron Industries but does not appear to be cool enough in the eyes of his son Prateek (Verma). In a bid to get into his sons good books and make an outstanding video game, Shekhar develops the ultimate super villain, Ra.One (Rampal/Wu). Ra.One is equipped with artificial intelligence where he quickly learns the moves of his players and gets smarter and hence tougher. Things start going haywire and Ra.One from the game comes to life and wrecks havoc. He is out to hunt for Prateek whom he has learnt is his most formidable opponent and decides to hunt him down. In order to stop Ra.One the good guy G.One (Khan) is brought to life and to bring an end to his mutiny. Shekhar's wife Sonia (Kapoor) and Prateek are in danger of being killed and it is up to G.One to save them. The movie is a rip-off of Hollywood's best superheroes all in one. Ra.One and G.One share the same suit design as Iron Man, especially the HART which is a direct copy of the same device on Iron Man. Many fight scenes are copied from Terminator including the one from Terminator 2 where T-1000 rebuilds itself after getting disintegrated by liquid nitrogen. The movie has supposedly tried to use the most advanced special effects to date but yet many scenes seem be hopelessly out of place and look tacky even for 20-year-old graphics technology standard. The movie is a total wash down and a case study of 'How to create too much buzz for an entirely worthless product'. It still kills me on how G.One managed to come back to life after being killed, any answers?

Thumbs up: Arjun Rampal filled Ra.One's character well with some scenes being executed with finesse

Thumbs down: Copied plot, very poor special effects.

Rating: 4.8/10

The Three Musketeers (3D)

2011-11-02T11:55:00.000+05:30

Genre: Action/Adventure/Crime/History/Romance

Starring: Matthew Macfayden, Milla Jovovich, Luke Evans, Ray Stevenson, Orlando Bloom, Logan Lerman, Christoph Waltz, Gabriella Wilde, Mads Mikkelsen, Freddie Fox, Juno Temple

Based on the famous French novel, the story is set in 17th century France which was then under the reign of King Louis XIII (Fox). The kings Three Musketeers, Athos (Macfayden), Porthos (Stevenson) and Aramis (Evans) serve the king and serve France. A young country lad D'Artagnan (Lerman) is anxious to join the Musketeers and comes to Paris. He meets his mentors and they are impressed with his skills who soon become friends. Milady (Jovovich) Athos' ex-wife who earlier betrayed him, is hired by the Duke of Buckingham (Bloom) and the French Cardinal Richelieu (Waltz) to steal Queen Anne's (Temple) diamonds from Paris and bring it to Buckingham. The Queen is framed with having an affair with Buckingham and when the King gets word of it, he is enraged and orders the Queen to wear the diamonds to the ball in five days, if she fails to wear them then Buckingham and the Queen's fate would be sealed. The novel has been made into a movie a countless number of times with this movie being the latest so far. The movie in general is nothing to write home about with action and performances being mediocre. The visual effects though are quite nice with the 3D effect being very life like. An average entertainer that could have been far better if the plot and action was moulded in a more different manner.

Thumbs up: 3D experience

Thumbs down: Average action and plot

Rating: 6.5/10

Hole in One (2010)

2011-10-28T10:54:00.000+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Sport/Drama/Romance

Starring: Steve Talley, David Ellison, Dean Cameron, Christopher Showerman, Sandy Modic

Sex sells? At least that is what the makers of this movie believe in. Here is our recipe; get a young famous actor, get some gorgeous skimpy clothed woman, add some considerable nudity, sprinkle some slap-stick humour and if you really wish, add a plot to it. Eric (Talley) is an amateur golfer who hustles people and makes a living. His best friend Tyler (Ellison) runs a store that sells clothes golf apparel and the two are enjoying their life the way it is. On one eventful day, Eric makes a bet with two plastic surgeons at golf and loses, or rather gained, something he wish he never had. Steve Talley has emerged as the new god of sex-comedy movies after his success with American Pie and Van Wilder. The movie is a mindless comic with no laughable humour or entertaining plot outline. If loads of topless woman is what defines your style of entertainment then this movie is definitely up to the mark else it is a pure waste of precious time. Watch at your own risk.

Thumbs up: Does the moon have water?

Thumbs down: Bad plot, worse humour

Rating: 4.8/10

My Girlfriend's Boyfriend (2010)

2011-10-26T19:22:00.001+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Romance/Drama

Starring: Christopher Gorham, Alyssa Milano, Michael Landes, Tom Lenk

An aspiring writer, Ethan (Gorham) is tired of facing rejection and his editor saying that his stories lack inspiration. Just when he is about to give up, he meets a waitress Jessie (Milano) and the two immediately become really great friends. Ethan starts to fall in love with her but little does he know that Jessie is also dating an advertising executive, Troy (Landes). Jessie seems to love both, Troy and Ethan and neither of the men know about each other. Jessie soon realises that her life cannot go on like this and one fine day she would have to bring out the truth and select one over the other. The movie starts out being very interesting and progress is smooth and catchy. The only downfall of the movie is its climax which is not understandable, downright weird and not what one would expect from this movie. It somehow changes the entire plot with what you have been watching all this while to something completely different and what some might call it, lame. It seemed like a hurried option just to end the movie and brings down an otherwise decent watch.

Thumbs up: A good romance to watch with your lover

Thumbs down: Horrible climax

Rating: 5.7/10

The Lost City (2005)

2011-10-25T11:29:00.000+05:30

Genre: History/Action/Romance/Drama

Starring: Andy Garcia, Enrique Murciano, Nestor Carbonell, Tomas Millian, Jsu Garcia, Ines Sastre, Richard Bradford, Bill Murray

Batista, the dictator of Cuba was hated by his people for the lack of freedom and his never-ending oppression. Federico (Milian) is a highly respected university professor who has brought up his three sons with strict virtues and good ideologies. He wants to use constitutional means to remove Batista from power and make Cuba a democracy. His son Ricardo (Murciano) does not agree with his democratic future and becomes a Communist by joining hands with Che Guevara (Jsu Garcia). His second son Luis (Carbonell) joins the democratic revolution who attempts to storm into the Presidential Palace and kill Batista but gets killed in the shootout. His third son Fico (Andy Garcia) owns a nightclub who loves dance and music and simply wants to make a peaceful living. Fico promised Luis that he would look after his wife Aurora (Sastre) should anything happen to him and upon insisting from his mother, he starts spending time with her only to fall in love. The movie reflects the love between Fico and Aurora against the hard times of Cuban dictatorship and eventual Communism by Fidel Castro. It picks up on a good note but the consequent developments are slow and at times become a bore. Romance and drama movies tend to be slow and the long pointless conversations only add to the dragged outline of the plot. Certain performances are commendable especially the unnecessary character of The Writer (Murray) who has no name who simply appears where Fico is and adds the tinge of humour to the movie. Nothing special, just a history lesson with a romance.

Thumbs up: Bill Murray and other performances

Thumbs down: Slow and dragged

Rating: 6.4/10

Thor (2011)

2011-10-24T11:35:00.001+05:30

Genre: Action/Science-fiction/Fantasy/Adventure

Starring: Natalie Portman, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgard, Colm Feore

According to ancient Nordic mythology, the god of gods, Odin (Hopkins) had two sons Loki (Hiddleston) and Thor (Hemsworth). Thor was the heir-apparent to the throne of Odin's kingdom much to the despise of Loki. Loki, God of Mischief, was known for his trickery and Lies and Thor, God of Thunder, for his rage and arrogance. The movie blends the old mythical story with new-age science to narrate the story of King Odin, ruler of the planet Asgard who once waged war against the Frost Giants and their leader King Laufey (Feore) and seized their prized Casket of Ancient Winter, their only source of power. Thor eventually accesses the throne and in order to celebrate his new accession, wages war once again with the Frost Giants in order to prove his might. Angered, his father banishes him to Earth and casts a spell on his Hammer which would only answer to a person worthy of wielding it. Jane Foster (Portman) an astrophysicist rescues Thor upon his arrival and aides him in whatever way she could. Thor wants to retrieve his hammer and return to Asgard but mischievous Loki has other secret plans for him. The movie is a good blend of mythology and science and seamless and convincing blend does not seem awkward or out of place. For anyone familiar with Nordic mythology or for someone who played the very famous PC game Age of Mythology would be familiar with gods featured in the movie and their powers and characters. A good adventure and fantasy watch that ticks the right boxes.

Thumbs up: Good graphics, great seamless blending of stories

Thumbs down: Nothing really, ticks the right boxes to be a decent entertainer

Rating: 7.5/10

Dude, Where's My Car (2000)

2011-10-18T11:37:00.001+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Adventure/Science-fiction/Mystery

Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Seann William Scott, Jennifer Garner, Marla Sokoloff, Hal Sparks

Two pot-heads have a crazy night and the next day, they don't remember a thing. Jesse (Kutcher) and Chester (Scott) cannot remember where they went and what they did but all they know is that they might have had a really good time. The two forgot their anniversary with the twins, Wanda (Garner) and Wilma (Sokoloff), forgot where they kept their gifts, forgot why a transsexual is demanding $200,000 from them, forgot why two Nordic dudes, a group of girls calling themselves 'hot chicks' and a team of very geeky cult members are after them for the 'Continuum Transfunctioner' a device that can destroy the entire universe and forgot where they parked Jesse's car. They realised that if they find the car most of their questions about last night would be solved, but that is if they can find out where the car is. Since this movie preceded The Hangover one can say that it might have been the source of inspiration for the epic laugh riot. This movie, however, was not all that funny but just plain stupid. Its the very typical slap-stick humour that you sit and enjoy with friends and simply erase it from your memory later. Stupid and funny but don't expect too much out of it.

Thumbs up: Stupid humour, a sex-comedy with a plot

Thumbs down: Not funny enough

Rating: 6.2/10

Hors la Loi (2010)

2011-10-17T16:54:00.000+05:30

Genre: Crime/History/Action/Drama

Starring: Jamel Debouzze, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila, Bernard Blancan, Sabrina Seyvecou

English title: Outside the Law. Like most modern countries in Africa and Asia, Algeria too was a colony of a European Empire and in this case, it was France. The Algerians were made to fight in World War II against Germany and soon after the war ended, a revolution for independence ensued. Three Algerian brothers were forced to leave their motherland and start a new life, each in their own direction. Said (Debouzze) the youngest, was an entrepreneur and wanted to become a boxing manager and did not believe in the revolution. Making money was his only ambition, be it by hook or by crook. Abdelkader (Bouajila) was the second eldest and the revolutionist who started his own political party that would fight against the French and gain freedom. Messaoud (Zem) the eldest, served the French Army, got tired of war and left it to join Abdelkader and his fight for freedom. The characters portrayed by the brothers are not true and only the backdrop of the Algerian struggle is historically accurate. The performances executed are exceptional and exactly what one would expect from such a movie. The only flaw in an otherwise decent movie is its over-stretched and slow developing plot which perhaps if faster, would have made the movie far more entertaining.

Thumbs up: Exceptional performances, great adaptation

Thumbs down: Stretched and slow-developing plot

Rating: 7.0/10

Jo Dooba So Paar: It's Love in Bihaar (2011)

2011-10-17T11:44:00.000+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Romance/Drama/Adventure

Starring: Vinay Pathak, Anand Tiwari, Rajat Kapoor, Pitobash Tripathy, Dadhi Raj, Sita Ragoine Spada

When a white woman walks into India with extremely ambitious plans to tour the country and further her knowledge, everyone knows the hurdles she will have to cross and Sapna's (Spada) story is no different. Sapna comes to India to pursue her M. Phil research in paintings of India and wants to travel all over Bihar. Kishu (Tiwari) is a local youth who dropped out of school and now spends his days in his fathers truck transporting goods from one city to another. He glances upon Sapna in the streets one morning and instantly falls in love. Day in and day out he tirelessly tries win her heart only to find that it belonged to someone else. The movie is set against Bihar's rural life and most of the humour comes from their style of talking and the sarcasm that comes along with it. To someone who is familiar with the dialect, the humour would be more appreciated compared to anyone else who might just laugh without getting its true meaning. The performances and good and its worth that one watch to enjoy and go home.

Thumbs up: Sarcastic humour, performances

Thumbs down: Not LOL funny

Rating: 6.6/10

Despicable Me (2010)

2011-10-11T15:02:00.001+05:30

Genre: Animation/Comedy/Drama/Science-fiction/Action

Starring (voice): Steve Carell, Jason Segal, Russell Brand, Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier, Elsie Fisher

How I love a good, humourous and fun to watch animation! It is indeed pleasing when every now and then there comes a comedy that you can watch over and over again and enjoy it just as you did when you saw it the very first time. Gru (Carell) a master conman has a falling reputation that he needs to improve. Vector (Segal) a new thief in the business has managed to steal the Pyramid of Giza putting Gru's thefts, the Times Square Jumbotron, The Statue of Liberty (from Vegas) and the Eiffel Tower (also from Vegas) to shame. Gru comes up with one large theft that will change the way the world looks at him, but for that he needs the Shrink Ray, which is currently in Vector's possession. Three orphan girls, Margo (Cosgrove), Edith (Gaier) and Agnes (Fisher) have easy access to Vector's facility because he loves the cookies they sell to him. Gru plans to adopt them to gain entry to Vector's facility, not knowing that his evil, cunning, stone-cold and selfish heart will change forever. The best thing about the movie is its subtle humour that would make people of all ages roll over with laughter and guarantee a great time. Agnes' character is extremely cute and is made to appeal to young kids and Gru's minion's take the cake when it comes to idiotic and enjoyable humour. The movie can promptly shift from being a comedy to an action sequence and can suddenly bring out all the emotions from within you in a flash. A definite watch and a sure shot entertainer. I'm lovin' it!

Thumbs up: Great humour, brilliant entertainer, fabulous character creation

Thumbs done: None at all

Rating: 8.5/10

Beowulf (2007)

2011-10-07T15:09:00.002+05:30

Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy/Animation

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright, Ray Winstone, John Malkovich, Brendan Gleeson, Angelina Jolie

Based on an ancient Scandinavian poem set in Denmark, Beowulf (Winstone) is a mighty hero who arrives to the aid of King Hrothgar (Hopkins) when his royal halls are being constantly plagued by a beast called Grendel. Beowulf wounds the beast without armour and with his bare hands and leaves him to scamper to his mother (Jolie) where he dies. The Danes rejoice but Grendels mother wants revenge and she attacks and kills all of Beowulf's warriors save him. Beowulf now has to finish Grendel's mother too, a task far more challenging than he ever imagined. Her beauty is astonishing and enticing, seductive and luscious, tempting and mesmerising, so much so, that any warrior would willingly give in to her. The movie has been shot on a motion capture technology where simply the motion of the act is captured on film with all other entities such as background and effects being digitally created and added. The visual aspects and special effects may not be all that stunning or ground-breaking, yet the detailing and specifications are spot-on. The movie is a reproduction of the poem with its own pieces of modifications and alterations which make it a good, interesting and action-packed piece of entertainment.

Thumbs up: Good plot execution and adaptation

Thumbs down: Weak special effects and animation

Rating: 7.3/10

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

2011-10-05T12:59:00.003+05:30

Genre: Drama/Sports

Starring: Hillary Swank, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel

Clint Eastwood always has something special on offer and when you have Morgan Freeman and Hillary Swank on the same boat, one can expect fireworks. Boxing manager cum trainer cum gym owner Frankie Dunn (Eastwood) has a strong career record behind him and has trained lots of boxing champions. The only kind of people he doesn't train are girls and that is exactly what knocks on his door one fine morning. Maggie Fitzgerald (Swank) is a waitress who aspires to be a boxer and insists that only Frankie train him. After refusing too many times, Frankie is forced to give in after being persuaded by his friend and gym janitor Eddie (Freeman). He realises that Maggie indeed has potential and when she consistently knocks out her opponents in the first round. The movie displays the hardships of life that each of the characters is facing in the movie. Each and every one of them learn their mistakes through a different way, react in a different way and get over them in a different. The story that appears to be slow has been crafted and executed in a fine manner which does not make it look as slow. A beautiful movie and some lovely performances make it a smooth as butter watch.

Thumbs up: Fabulous acting

Thumbs down: Maybe some more boxing action?

Rating: 8.0/10

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)

2011-10-04T10:32:00.002+05:30

Genre: Animation/Comedy/Adventure/Drama

Starring (voice): Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Tom McGrath

The hilarious story of four animal friends from the New York zoo who land up in Madagascar, Africa continues. Alex, the egoistic Lion (Stiller), his best friend Marty the Zebra (Rock), Melman the extra-hygienic Giraffe (Schwimmer) and Glorio the Hippo (Smith) are finally hatching a plan to leave Madagascar and go back to NYC for good. However, their make shift and tacky aircraft gives away just after the journey and the entire team find themselves in the heart of Africa, within the Kalahari. The four friends realised that they all came from this exact same place and Alex even meets his real parents. The true challenge comes when Alex has to prove he is a true lion by engaging another lion in combat and securing a place for himself in the pride. Alex has always been a performance Lion and never knew how to fight in combat. The first part of the movie was an ultimate laugh-riot with King Julian (Cohen) stealing the show along with Skipper the Penguin (McGrath) and his team of dim-witted side-kicks. The movie does not entirely fail to live up to expectations but is not exactly as funny either. King Julian and Skipper still entertain but the entire comedy rests solely on their shoulders with almost no support coming from any other character. A good family entertainer and is still worth the watch.

Thumbs up: King Julian all the way

Thumbs down: Not as funny as the earlier movie

Rating: 6.7/10

Revolver (2005)

2011-10-03T14:09:00.000+05:30

Genre: Crime/Drama/Action/Mystery

Starring: Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, Vincent Pastore, Andre Benjamin, Terence Maynard

Ego is something which we cannot live with; we all want to win it, build it, garner it and do exactly what it tells you to do. Jake Green (Statham) is a conman who specialises in gaining your confidence and eventually conning you. He serves seven years in prison in solitary confinement where his neighbours was a master conman and a chess master. The chessmaster and conman used to communicate with each other by writing at the back of books on quantum mechanics along with their secret formulas to success. Jake learns of these formulas which can be applied to any game to make the player win against any opponenet under any situation. When Jake gets out of prison he uses this forumla in casinos to quickly make a lot of money and earn himself a reputation of being unbeatable. Dorothy Macha (Liotta) is a crooked casino owner who had once forced Jake to play on his behalf. When all of Jake's winnings mysteriously disappeared, Macha framed him and sent him to prison. Now Jake wants revenge but two loansharks, Avi (Benjamin) and Zach (Pastore) tell him that he suffers from a rare blood disease due to which he would die in three days. They offer to protect him and help him survive for as long as he can in return of all of Jake's money. The movie starts on an extremely promising note and with the reputation of Guy Ritchie riding on it along with Jason Statham, one definitely expects fireworks. However, the movie focusses deeply on ego, greed, power and over-riding the inner thoughts. It gets highly philosophical and starts to represent a very emotion-laden art movie. Its just the end and the philosophical nature of an otherwise good movie that does not make it worth the watch.

Thumbs up: Good promising start, good performances

Thumbs down: Complicated plot, bad ending

Rating: 5.8/10

(500) Days of Summer (2009)

2011-09-30T13:15:00.002+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, Geoffrey Arend

Summer Finn (Deschanel) is the average next door girl with average looks and an almost average personality. Yet, there is something inside that makes everyone around her attracted to her. Whatever she does and wherever she goes, there is always a mass of people doing the exact same thing behind her. Tom (Gordon-Levitt) is an architect who is working as a cartoonist in a greeting card manufacturing company. When Summer joins the company as the bosses assistant, Tom falls in love. Summer and Tom get along as good friends and things start to progress rapidly when suddenly Summer mentions that she is not looking at anything serious but its too late since Tom already is. The movie might appear to be the average run-of-the-mill love story but it actually isn't. Its less of a fictional romance and more of a practical love story which almost every other person experiences. Even though the plot might not be as interesting, the form in which the movie is narrated with the constant back and forth in time has made it unique and interesting. Good performances coupled with a good plot execution has made this a great movie for lovers to watch together.

Thumbs up: Great way of narrating a plot

Thumbs down: Average storyline

Rating: 7.3/10

Singham (2011)

2011-09-16T17:47:00.001+05:30

Genre: Crime/Action/Drama

Starring: Ajay Devgn, Kajal Agarwal, Prakash Raj, Sonali Kulkarni

Corruption and dirty politics are known to inflict Indian politics, so much so that if an honest person tries to wipe it clean, he would get wiped clean. Bajirao Singham (Devgn) is an honest police inspector in a small town of Goa. Jaykant Shikre (Raj) is a notorious crook known for extortion, murder, money laundering and the likes. He is ordered by court to report to a specific police station every few days and mark his attendance. That very police station which is under the authority of Bajirao Singham. Shikre disregards the law and tries to send a nominee on his behalf, much to the ire of Singham who demands that Shikre himself appear. This does not go down well with him and enmity sparks with each side swearing to take down the other. Singham later learns of inspector Rakesh Kadam who shot himself because he too was a good cop and wanted to expose the corruption but was unable to do so. His wife Megha (Kulkarni) approaches Singham and demands justice for her dead husband. The lion is out in the forest to hunt for dear and when the lion goes hunting, he never returns empty-handed. The movie is filled with the angry Devgn smashing everything that comes in his way. Over-the-top action sequences are rampant throughout the movie which is what makes it hugely interesting. The only let downs was the forced romance angle that was added and the not-so-climaxing climax scene. All in all, a great action movie and a must watch for die hard fans.

Thumbs up: Good performances, entertaining action

Thumbs down: Forced romance and drama sequences that breaks the movies momentum

Rating: 7.2/10

La Ley de Herodes (1999)

2011-09-08T03:35:00.002+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Drama

Starring: Damian Alcazar, Pedro Armendariz Jr., Alex Cox, Leticia Huijara, Eduardo Lopez Rojas, Isela Vega, Salvador Sanchez

English title: Herod's Law.The Mexican PRI political party was notorious for its corrupt party members and shady dealings. Lopez (Armendariz Jr.) a PRI party leader appoints janitor Juan Vargas (Alcazar) as the Mayor of a run-down Mexican village after its previous Mayor was murdered by locals due to his corrupt dealings. Lopez wanted someone stupid and insignificant to run the post until the new elections came so that party does not lose ground. Juan is over-joyed that he has finally manage to taste success but his joy soon evaporates after he sees the dismal condition of the town. He tries hard to stay away from corruption and wrong-doings and tries to take the honest path in turning the town around. He soon realises that its a job that is not going to be very easy without the power of money and the force of a pistol. The movie has a very interesting start and promises a good two hours of entertainment. Juan's tireless struggle is definitely fun to watch but after a while can feel a little dragged. The genre takes a sudden twist around the half-way mark and it sheds the comic for crime and murder a shift which seemed a bit too drastic and sudden. Fabulous performances and all in a all a nice neat watch.

Thumbs up: Great performances, good story

Thumbs down: Sudden shift of genre

Rating: 7.3/10

Bodyguard (2011)

2011-09-01T18:53:00.002+05:30

Genre: Action/Crime/Romance/Drama

Starring: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Raj Babbar, Reema Debnath, Rajat Rawail, Rose Dawn, Asrani

Every actor has its own panache which makes him/her different from the crowd and manage to create a niche for themselves. This character or style may not be loved by all but it is the image the actor has created. Salman Khan is one such man whose rapidly swelling fan-following comprises of those individuals who love his over-the-top aggressive attitude, slapstick humour and unrealistic action. Bodyguard Lovely Singh (Khan) has owned himself a name for being the most safest man to be around you. Single-handily thrashing twenty goons, jumping off running trains, throwing people six feet in the air is not big deal for this macho man. Sartaj Rana (Babbar) is a rich elite man who once saved Lovely's life when he was a child, as a mark of respect he diligently works for him whenever the need be. Divya (Kapoor) the daughter of Sartaj is going to university and Sartaj's enemies are plotting to attack her in order to get even with him. Lovely has been appointed as Divya's bodyguard and must follow her everywhere she goes, much to her despise. Divya hatches a plan to get Lovely off her back, a plan that would later have disastrous consequences. If one simply accepts Salman the way he is, the movie is actually quite entertaining to watch. The last 45 minutes seemed dragged and a last minute addition to an otherwise decently evolving plot line. The biggest let down in Salman's character was the lack of any interesting action sequences. All the action seemed like the same punches, jumps, kicks and throws with no interesting sequences or variations. That coupled with the end scene was probably the only two things that pulled an otherwise decent movie.

Thumbs up: The macho Salman and his flamboyant attitude

Thumbs down: Uninteresting action and poorly developed ending

Rating: 6.5/10

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983)

2011-08-31T21:48:00.003+05:30

Genre: Crime/Comedy/Drama

Starring: Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Satish Shah, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapur, Satish Kaushik, Neena Gupta, Deepak Qazir, Bhakti Barve

The classic Indian laugh-riot lives till this day and is loved by many; for a very valid reason.Vinod (Naseeruddin Shah) and Sudhir (Baswani) are two friends who have decided to open a photo studio. Business is not going very well for them despite all their crazy attempts at garnering business. Mr. Tarneja (Kapur) is a rich and influential industrialist who bribes government officers to twist the law in his favour. He is trying to secure a deal to construct flyovers across Mumbai city by bribing the Municipal Commissioner, Mr. D'Mello (Satish Shah) to hand over the contract to his company. Shobha Sen (Barve) is the editor of Khabardaar magazine and has got wind of Tarneja and his doings and wishes to put him behind bars once and for all. She hires Vinod and Sudhir to spy on the meeting and take photographs as evidence. Mr. Ahuja (Puri) is Tarneja's rival who too wishes to secure the flyover contract and offers a double bribe. Tarneja is furious when he doesn't get the deal and decides to murder D'Mello and make his confidant the new Muncipal Commissioner. Vinod and Sudhir stumble upon some evidence of D'Mello's murder and decide to find and excavate his body and put Tarneja behind bars. Tarneja gets wind of Vinod and Sudhir's attempts and tries to save his skin by destroying the evidence, Shoba wants to blackmail Tarneja with the evidence and earn money, Ahuja wants to deface Tarneja by exposing the evidence. Each with their own motive are on a cock and bull chase to take D'Mello's dead body and fulfill their ambitions. The movie might not come across as being technically sound and one can easily find multiple loopholes and flaws. The only thing that makes the movie stand out is the 'Mahabharat' scene right at the end which can make you roll over in laughter. That is probably the only reason why people love and watch this movie so much and the reason why you should be watching it too.

Thumbs up: Mahabharat scene

Thumbs down: Loosely made, lacks consistent humour

Rating: 6.9/10

King Arthur (2004)

2011-08-26T19:57:00.000+05:30

Genre: History/Biography/War/Action/Adventure

Starring: Clive Owen, Ioan Gruffudd, Mads Mikkelsen, Joel Edgerton, Hugh Dancy, Ray Winstone, Ray Stevenson, Keira Knightly, Stephen Dillaine, Stellan Skarsgard

King Arthur (Owen) was a legendary hero that served the cause of the Britons. The genuineness of Arthur is unknown with many people attributing it to be based on the story of other unknown heroes. The Roman Empire covered most of Europe and stretched till Hadrian's Wall, a border that divides modern England and Scotland. This wall is guarded by Arthur and his elite knights with rumours having that they have never lost a battle. The knights are Roman by birth and loyal to Rome and are due to receive their freedom from active military service when Rome suddenly backs out on its initial agreement and orders Arthur and his knights to undertake one last perilous journey, north of the wall and rescue an important Roman family from being captured by the invading Saxons. The Saxons, headed by Cerdic (Skarsgard) were a barbaric tribe who wish to denounce the Romans out of their land. The knights reluctantly agree to undertake the mission in order to win their much awaited freedom. On the face of it, the plot looks much like any other medieval war movie of good being victorious over evil. The lines and dialogues are very typically over-dramatic, almost Shakespearean which makes the movie a tad boring and annoying. True that might have been the prevailing language and style used but its over-emphasis and extra usage is what makes it annoying. Nothing exceptional in this one but nothing too bad either.

Thumbs up: Good gripping climaxes and war scenes

Thumbs down: Boring dialogues and lines

Rating: 6.9/10

The Mask (1994)

2011-08-19T19:21:00.001+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Action/Fantasy

Starring: Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz, Peter Riegert, Peter Greene

Bright-coloured suits, over-the-top acting, slapstick humour, irritatingly stupid and laugh out loud funny; that is how you describe Jim Carrey. The Mask defines Carrey's every acting style and the role seems to be perfectly tailor-made for him. Stanley Ipkiss (Carrey) is a bank clerk who receives a hot, sexy new client Tina Carlyle (Diaz) who wants to open a new account. In reality, Tina is working for Dorian (Greene) one of the cities top criminals who is scouting the bank and is hatching a plot to rob it. On a night when everything seems to be going bad, Stan stumbles upon The Mask and discovers its unique powers. The Mask converts a person into a green-faced individual and makes that person everything they always wanted to be but never could be. Stan turns into a goofy, funny, cartoon-ish and over-romantic guy and decides to go around town getting some revenge. The movie stands for epic Jim Carrey humour, and is outrageously funny. Sure, the slapstick and stupid comedy may not appeal to all but there is no denying that the movie is a really amazing watch. Somebody stop him!

Thumbs up: Jim Carrey's nonsense all the way

Thumbs down: The kind of humour that all may not appreciate

Rating: 7.4/10

The Devil's Double (2011)

2011-08-18T17:31:00.000+05:30

Genre: Action/Crime/History/Biography/War/Drama

Starring: Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi, Philip Quast

Every world-renowned leader had to look after his own life and the best way to do so was to have body doubles. Exact twins right up to every small feature in order to deceive assassins. Uday Saddam Hussein (Cooper), the son of the Iraqi dictator too created body doubles to save his own precious life. Latif Yahia (Cooper) an Iraqi soldier and Uday's classmate back in school was forced to accept the proposition to become Uday's double. Uday Hussein was perhaps the most arrogant, shameless, immature and perverted person in all of Iraq. He kept multiple women as servants and slept with whomsoever he wished, regularly shot and killed people simply for the fun of it and raped and murdered school girls because he fancied doing it. Sarrab (Sagneir) one of Uday's whores, took a fancy for Latif and they both together shared their hatred for Uday and his behaviour. The movie solely stands on Dominic Cooper and his astounding, perfect and fine piece of acting. He fulfills two roles out of which one role is to play the part of learning how to play the other role. Its just what the doctor ordered for, my bet for at least one Oscar nominee this year.

Thumbs up: Dominic Cooper

Thumbs down: Story could be slightly more vibrant, its just too simple

Rating: 8.2/10

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

2011-08-17T19:27:00.002+05:30

Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Drama

Starring: James Franco, Frieda Pinto, John Lithgow, David Oyelowo

As the name suggests, this movies comes as a prequel to the 1968 original Planet of the Apes series of movies, although the story does not fit in to the original series and only supposes what could be the beginning. Will Rodman (Franco) is a medical scientist working for a drug manufacturing company looking for a cure to Alzheimer's disease. Will develops a drug and tests it on a chimpanzee and is amazed to find the form in which the drug boosts the mental capability of the animal. The chimpanzee, Bright Eyes is accidentally killed and leaves behind a young child that Will raises and decides to take care of. The drug gets passed on to child Caesar soon grows up to become a very smart chimpanzee. Will decides to try the drug on his dying father (Lithgow) and obtains marvelous results. He meets and falls in love with Caroline (Pinto) a vet and just as everything was going good, the adverse effects of the drug started creeping up. The movie starts with a very interesting bang but unfortunately progress is extremely slow with too much focus on the growth of Caesar and the development of the drug. The stunts and actions being performed by the chimpanzees is outrageous and unbelievable; it seems more like an ape version of James Bond. Although I haven't seen the original Planet of the Apes series, I am told that this movie does not come even close in matching the classic.

Thumbs up: Graphics and special effects

Thumbs down: Over-the-top action especially for a monkey

Rating: 7.0/10

The Brothers Bloom (2008)

2011-08-17T18:56:00.000+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Crime/Drama/Romance/Adventure

Starring: Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, Rinko Kikuchi, Robbie Coltrane

Bloom (Brody) and Stephen (Ruffalo) are brothers, Stephen being the elder one. Since kids, the two have been orphans getting thrown out of each house for misbehaviour. Stephen made stories which were acted out by his brother and in this process they started to con people and soon became con men. Years later, the adult Bloom realises that Stephen and his stories control his life and he has no freedom or say in anything to do with himself and hence decides to quit. Stephen gets a new sidekick Bang Bang (Kikuchi) an Oriental girl who knows little English and wants Bloom to come back for one last con. He introduces him to Penelope (Weisz) a very rich, lonely and single girl who has lived in solitary confinement for most of her life and knows no one beyond the boundaries of her house. Bloom, as per the con, is to befriend her and the two brothers plan to swindle her wealth until Bloom falls in love. The movie has a very promising start with the two brothers being con men and you hope to see an interesting plot development. Sadly, the movie moves at a very slow place and there comes a point where the cons seem impractical, hard to believe and just outrageous. Perhaps if the cons were made more interesting with a better twist, it might have been able to improve things. Its not your regular con movie but its nothing exceptional either.

Thumbs up: Good performances

Thumbs down: Slow plot, unrealistic

Rating: 6.6/10

Andaz Apna Apna (1994)

2011-08-14T20:32:00.002+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Action/Crime/Romance/Drama

Starring: Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Raveena Tandon, Karishma Kapoor, Shakti Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Viju Khote, Shehzad Khan

The epic laugh riot movie of Indian cinema is still loved and watched by young and old to this day. The comedy of errors of Amar (Aamir Khan) and Prem (Salman Khan) both in pursuit of charming Raveena (Tandon) a young beautiful girl who is looking for a smart young man to fall in love with and marry. Amar and Prem, the two good for nothing Casanova's want to marry her for the money and are at constant war to outdo the other in winning Raveena's heart. Meanwhile, Teja (Rawal) a criminal who just got out of jail wants to get even with his twin brother Ram Gopal Bajaj who is also the father of Raveena. Along with his two stupid side kicks, he tries to kidnap Raveena but in vain. Enter Crime Master Gogo (Shakti Kapoor), a failed and idiotic criminal who is continuing the 'family business' of looting and plundering. The movie enjoys a cult following with many dialogues and moves becoming epic statements today. The performances may seem to be extremely over-acted but that was more or less the norm of those days and to some extent the movie becomes enjoyable simply due to the over the top acting. The movie plays tributes and jokes about many other famous Bollywood movies throughout. Funny and an amazing stress buster.

Thumbs up: Awesome laugh riot

Thumbs down: Hugely over-acted

Rating: 7.3/10

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

2011-08-14T01:59:00.001+05:30

Genre: Crime/Drama

Starring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown

Touted as one of the worlds most epic movie, the movie truly deserves all the praise people shower upon it. Narrating the story of Andy Dufresne (Robbins) an investment bank's Vice-President who gets convicted for murdering his cheating wife and lover, the movie displays the hardships of prison life. Red (Freeman) is the prison smuggler and trader and can get you almost anything and everything you want. Red and Andy soon become good friends and Red realises that Andy is not the average prison in-mate. Andy soon garners respect with Prison Warden Mr. Norton (Gunton) and starts keeping his accounts, files tax returns for all the prison guards and initiates to revamp the prison library. The movie may have a very simple and easy story but its the entire plot execution and eventual twist in the tale that steals the show. Half-way through the movie might just seem to be a slight drag but this eventual moves on to something far more interesting. A fine movie that displays the harvest of hard-work, patience and perseverance and a must-watch movie for each and everyone.

Thumbs up: Amazing performance, very good plot execution

Thumbs down: Just a bit slow at the half-way mark

Rating: 9.3/10

Wild Things: Foursome (2010)

2011-08-01T22:35:00.000+05:30

Genre: Crime/Romance/Drama/Mystery

Starring: Jillian Murray, Marnette Patterson, Ashley Parker, John Schneider, Ethan S. Smith, Jessie Nickson, Josh Randall

The fourth version of the sexual murder mystery is here; and you wonder why. The first Wild Things was something else. The twisted and unpredictable plot along with the sizzling Denise Richards' love scene gave the movie a different credibility. The subsequent movies have tried to utilise the same format, with different actors with a lot more emphasis on the sexuality, which has failed miserably. In spite of the second and third movies not doing very well, the fourth installment has come out with no exceptional differences. Carson Wheetly (Parker) is the son of one of Florida's richest men and becomes a rich heir when his father dies in a car crash. Brandi Cox (Murray) a colleague of Carson's arch enemy Shane (Randall) accuses Carson of raping her and demands a large sum of money as settlement. Double-crossing becomes a ritual and relations get bloody as everyone now wants a part of the money. Detective Frank Walker (Schneider) smells a rat and realises that everything is not as simple as it seems and boldly decides to dig a little further. The movie has its own bit of twists and turns but each and every one of them is more or less predictable along with being stupid and lame. The performances are hopeless and the movie is only trying to sell sex and nothing at all. Probably if some more high-profile actors were selected along with a more improved and modified plot line, the movie would have been a whole lot better and the franchise would have done well.

Thumbs up: There is no shortage of chicks of hunks

Thumbs down: Bad plot, weak performances

Rating: 4.9/10

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (3D) (2011)

2011-07-30T19:50:00.001+05:30

Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Adventure, Action

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Tom Felton, Helena Bonham Carter

The final movie of one of the worlds largest selling books is finally here. The epic ending of the Harry Potter series is here, and how! Harry (Radclifee) along with his two best friends, Hermione (Watson) and Ronald Weasley (Grint) are in the quest for 7 Horcruxes, a magical device in which the dark lord, Lord Voldemort (Fiennes) has held a part of his soul. Until and unless these seven horcruxes are destroyed, Harry cannot kill Voldemort once and for all. The quest makes him go into the depths of the darkest and most dangerous of places, a chance he must take. He learns about secrets and mysteries about his life and his past, some which shock and others mystify him even further. The saving grace about the movie was that it wasn't a random mixture of erratic events stuck together by super glue but a good narration of constant developments. The movie sadly does not refer to the previous movie or refresh the audience's mind about the previous movie, an aspect which I believe is essential since the audience would have more or less forgotten about it in the part few months. The visuals and graphics are stunning, especially in 3D which make it a thrilling and entertaining watch. All in all, the movie is a fabulous treat for Harry Potter fans and would make you leave awe-struck. To know more about 'How to messy up a movie ending big-time', please watch the last bit of the movie.

Thumbs up: Brilliant special effects, good sequence of events
Thumbs down: Horrible ending

Rating: 7.1/10

Bridesmaids (2011)

2011-07-05T18:51:00.000+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Romance/Drama

Starring: Kirsten Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Wendy McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Rosie Byrne, Chris O'Dowd, Melissa McCarthy

A middle-aged unmarried lady, Annie (Wiig) is not enjoying her life since she cant find a partner to settle down with, cant get a steady income and is simply frustrated with herself. Her best friend Lillian (Rudolph) is getting married and Annie is extremely excited to plan the entire wedding. Lillian's bosses wife, Helen (Byrne) has recently become good friends with Lillian which Annie cant seem to accept. Helen at every step is trying to put down Annie and vice-versa, with a cat fight erupting every now and then. It's a battle between the bridesmaids to see which one emerges as the winner. Annie has a brush with the law and finds respite in Officer Rhodes (O'Dowd) who hears her every misery out and becomes close friends with her. The movie is a very typical chic-flick when it comes to the acting style and the overall plot development. That said, the movie is quite funny and highly entertaining even if your not into watching these kinds of movies. Its a well-made movie which does what it set out to do, entertain.

Thumbs up: Good humour

Thumbs down: Nothing different or outstanding, plain and simple

Rating: 6.8/10

Jackass Number Two (2006)

2011-07-04T17:51:00.004+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Documentary/Action

Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Ryan Dunn, Jason 'Wee-Man' Acuna, Preston Lacy, Dave England

The most outrageous TV show on the planet returns in its movie format with a second installment. Fancy getting leaches put in your eyes, or enjoy a swim with a bleeding cheek in the midst of a shark, or does getting a cow brand on your butt appeal to you or would you rather play with an anaconda? If you replied 'yes' to any of the above, please contact the Jackass team. The movie is a compilation of the teams crazy, insane, daring and what some may call stupid, stunts and antics. Most of them are highly dangerous which can cause serious damage to yourself and others around you but many are funny at the same time. The movie is not very different from the first installment when it comes to the quality and level of stunts. Its not any MORE crazy, stupid, insane or daring but more or less on the same level. The format and structure of the movie too remains pretty much the same but that may not be a point of argument for a Jackass fan. As long as the insanity continues, that is all that matters. Its crazy, but if you're a fan you would love it.

Thumbs up: The guts to perform such daring stunts

Thumbs down: Some very gross and graphic scenes

Rating: 5.7/10

Delhi Belly (2011)

2011-07-02T17:19:00.003+05:30

Genre: Crime/Drama/Comedy/Action

Starring: Imran Khan, Vir Das, Kunal Roy Kapoor, Shenaz Treasury, Poorna Jagannathan, Vijay Raaz

Once in a while Bollywood churns out a decent movie and the man behind it is most of the times, the one and only, Aamir Khan. Delhi Belly is the story of three friends sharing a flat, each with their own personal problems and their encounter with crime. Tashi (Khan) is a journalist who is engaged to his air hostess girlfriend, Sonia (Treasury). Sonia does a favour for a friend by smuggling a 'package' by an unknown Russian at the airport. She knows little of what the package contains and gets Tashi to deliver it for her. Nitin (Kapoor) is Tashi's photographer who gets the Delhi Belly by eating unhygienic street food and needs to rush to the toilet every half-minute. Tashi passes the package onto Nitin for delivery who subsequently gets Arup (Das) a frustrated cartoonist to do it for him. Confusion occurs and Somayajulu (Raaz) the gangster for whom the package is for gets shit. The movie is an ultimate laugh riot all the way with each and every performer contributing with a fabulous performance. Vijay Raaz particularly stands out due to the finesse in which he throws out every swear word from his mouth. I don't think any amount of praise would be good enough, just go watch a zillion times and laugh each time!

Thumbs up: Hilarious, perfect acting

Thumbs down: A been there, done that story

Rating: 9.2/10

TRON: Legacy (2010)

2011-07-01T16:11:00.002+05:30

Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Adventure

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruxe Boxleitner

An innovative and world-renowned computer programmer, Kevin Flynn (Bridges) mysteriously disappears one day never to return. After twenty-six years, his son Sam (Hedlund) a reflection of his father stumbles upon his fathers secret office in the old arcade building. He accidentally gets transported to a virtual world inside the computer where he meets his fathers virtual clone CLU (Bridges) who rules over the computer grid and has banished his father from the grid. Sam meets his fathers accomplice Quorra (Wilde) who takes him to his fathers hideout where he learns that his father had created a clone of himself to help create the perfect system that betrayed his father and took over the entire system. With the portal to the outside world closed, Kevin became a captive inside his own system and has been reported missing ever since. Unknown to most people, the movie is a sequel to the 1982 movie TRON which narrates the story of how Kevin first built the system with the help of CLU and the betrayal. The movie excels in special effects and boasts of path-breaking clarity. Performances by Jeff Bridges was fantastic as always and has finely executed both his roles. The only let down was the action which largely encompassed the regular kicks and punches and had nothing new on offer. A good and interesting movie nonetheless.

Thumbs up: Great special effects and graphics

Thumbs down: Average action

Rating: 7.3/10

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (3D) (2011)

2011-06-30T16:49:00.002+05:30

Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Adventure

Starring: Shia LeBeouf, Rosie-Huntingtong Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Patrick Dempsey, Frances McDormand, Alan Tudyk, Peter Cullen (voice), Hugo Weaving (voice), Leonard Nimoy (voice)

Final verdict, mixed reactions. The story first; the Autobots are living peacefully on Earth and are helping humans resolve their conflict. As they continue to help, they are searching for any clues about Megatron, their enemy, and Cybertron, their home planet. Sentinel Prime (Nimoy) the leader of the Autobots was carrying a technology that could save the Autobots but was intercepted by Decepticons and his space craft crash landed on the moon. Neil Armstrong found this site and NASA has kept this information a secret from the world. Optimus Prime (Cullen) learns about and revives the Sentinel to lead the Autobots once more. However, unknown to him, Megatron (Weaving) has a cunning plan up his sleeve to take over planet Earth once and for all. Sam Witwicky (LeBeouf) basking in his fame and glory after saving mankind twice, cannot find himself a job. Along with that, he is not being involved in the Autobots missions which has made his life even more frustrating. To add more fire, the boss of his super-sexy girlfriend Carly (Whiteley) is showering her with gifts and compliments that Sam cant take anymore. The action sequences and special effects of the movie are mind-numbing. The insane new technology has provided the utmost clarity and detail that this movie demands. However, there are some scenes which look like a video game but that aspect can be overlooked. Shia LeBeouf's role has been over-shadowed by the Autobots and he seems to be a forceful addition since he was present in the earlier movies. What was even more disbelieving were his insane stunts and falls that left him with little injuries and minor scratches. All in all, the movie is worth watching only to enjoy the clarity of the special effects that too in 3D and no more. The movie is all about its graphics and loses out on all other aspects.

Thumbs up: Great special effects, super hot debutant Rosie-Huntington Whiteley

Thumbs down: Over dramatic action

Rating: 7.3/10

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

2011-06-30T15:55:00.001+05:30

Genre: Drama/Comedy

Starring: Jon Heder, Jon Gries, Aaron Ruell, Efren Ramirez, Tina Majorino, Haylie Duff

Geeky, alienated, dim-witted, immature, scrawny, boring are only some of the adjectives that one would associate with Napoleon Dynamite (Heder) a teenage kid from a small town in Idaho, USA. He gets pushed around and bullied in school all day and that does not come as a surprise considering his awkward behaviour. He meets a new student from Mexico, Pedro (Ramirez) who is like him in many ways but is more bold to confront society. The two get along fine when suddenly Pedro decides to run for class president and Napoleon needs to help him get there. The movie at first glance promises to be hugely funny but fails to deliver. If the sloppy behaviour of Napoleon and his crazy antics are supposed to make audiences laugh, then I must say the movie has failed horribly. Apart from Napoleon's story, multiple side plots run which include Napoleon's brother Kip (Ruell) who is trying to become 'cool' by going on a dating website, his uncle Rico (Gries) who is looking after them and wishes he could get his youth back and Deb (Majorino) a shy girl who has feelings for Napoleon. A highly avoidable movie which could have been far better.

Thumbs up: Good acting by Ramirez and Heder

Thumbs down: Pathetic attempt at trying to make you laugh

Rating: 5.5/10

The Mechanic (2011)

2011-06-29T14:02:00.003+05:30

Genre: Action/Crime

Starring: Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Tony Goldwyn

A remake of the 1972 movie with the same name, Arthur Bishop (Statham) is a hit man who specialises in making hits look like suicides, accidents or any other way you like it. Dean (Goldwyn) assigns Arthur the task of killing Arthur's close friend and mentor which Arthur is forced to do. After learning about his fathers death, his son Steve (Foster) is thirsty for revenge. Steve does not know that Arthur was behind the killing of his own father and Arthur, ridden with guilt, starts training Steve and makes him his accomplice. The duo get along well and Arthur tries very way to hide the truth from Steve. Once the first half an hour progresses, one quickly realises the final end and trajectory the movie would take. Its a complete back-to-the-basics assassin movie with nothing new or exceptional to offer. One expects some extremely gripping action sequences from a Jason Statham movie which, sadly, were missing. An average watch-it and forget-it action movie.

Thumbs up: A good and easy to watch action-bundle

Thumbs down: Nothing great or exceptional

Rating: 6.4/10

Inside Job (2010)

2011-06-28T21:51:00.001+05:30

Genre: History/Biography

Starring: Matt Damon (voice)

The 2008 global financial meltdown rocked the entire foundation of the human civilisation. Millions lost their jobs and their life savings overnight. How can such a huge disaster occur without any prior warning or anyone knowing about it? Inside Job looks into the development of the sub-prime crisis and its eventual impact on humanity. Greed for money and power ensured that corporate big-wigs could corrupt the United States political system into making money for self-gain at the cost of social development. The movie brings out how foolish decisions taken by Wall Street and Washington took the world to where it now stands. The movie has boldly shown the people responsible behind it and their indifferent behaviour before and after the crisis. The only flaw to the movie is the financial jargon which makes it hard for a non-finance person to understand. However, if the movie did go into the intricacies of all these definitions, the movie would be endless and would lose its objective. Hence this movie might only appeal to the understanding of the well-versed and those individuals would realise the full potential of it. Apart from the jargon, the movie correctly brings out how careless and near-sighted all the corporate heads of Wall Street are and the only point on their agenda is to make money for themselves. A great movie that shows the lengths and breadth of the sub-prime crisis.

Thumbs up: Bold display of all facts and figures

Thumbs down: Too much financial jargon

Rating: 7.1/10

Green Lantern (3D) (2011)

2011-06-22T17:15:00.003+05:30

Genre: Science-fiction/Fantasy/Action/Adventure

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong

Super-hero movies is not new to cinema and saving the world through the discovery of a super-natural power is not new either. Upon the creation of the universe, the Guardians decided to hold it together by tapping into the will power of all beings surviving within it. The universe was divided into various sectors, each controlled by a Green Lantern who would look into the well-being of all the planets with it. Hal Jordan (Reynolds) is fighter jet test-pilot with Ferris Aircraft company who stumbles upon a dying Green Lantern. The Green Lantern's ring selected Jordan as the successor for the dying warrior and all the responsibilities that come with it. When confronted by Sinestro (Strong) the leader of the Lanterns, Hal realises he is not up to the task and loses faith in his powers. Meanwhile, Dr. Hector Hammond (Sarsgaard) is asked to conduct an analysis of the dead Green Lantern's body who comes in contact with an organ that adversely affects his mental and physical structure. The movie outline is a tried and tested super hero story which does not have anything new to offer except for the design of his suit. The 3D technology used in the movie is extremely inferior with blurred and hazy images constantly occurring. Although the blame may lie with something outside the scope of the producer, it still makes the 3D experience not worth the extra cost. A big no-show, not even on a DVD.

Thumbs up: The bold attempt to create something so lame

Thumbs down: Bad graphics, poor plot

Rating: 6.1/10

The Good Shepherd (2006)

2011-06-22T16:50:00.000+05:30

Genre: History/Drama/Crime/Thriller

Starring: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie,Tammy Blanchard, Billy Crudup, John Turturro, William Hurt

The CIA has been the US Governments primary agency for intelligence and counter-intelligence activities for many years. The agency was founded as the OSS during World War II to collect information on Nazi troop movement. The agency continued in the Cold War period to gather data on Russian spies and movements and this movie intends to narrate the birth of this very agency. Edward Wilson (Damon) a Yale graduate is approached by the FBI to spy on his poetry professor whom they suspect to be a Nazi spy. He slowly climbs the secret services ladder and is soon asked to head the OSS and gather intelligence on Nazi troop movement. He is forced to marry his friends sister Margaret (Jolie) whom he slept with and impregnated although he loves with deaf girl Laura (Blanchard). The movie is loosely based on the CIA's inception with many primary person being depicted by other characters. The biggest flaw of the movie is its length which leads to a stretched story and subsequently becomes boring. Performances are decent and at times the movie does manage to pick up tempo which gets lost quite quickly. The multiple side-plots do not got down very well either and focusing on the main story would have been a far better idea.

Thumbs up: Great foundation story

Thumbs down: Long, stretched and boring

Rating: 6.1/10

X-Men: First Class (2011)

2011-06-15T18:40:00.043+05:30

Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Fantasy/Adventure

Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, January Jones

The fifth installment of the X-Men series goes back in time to 1962 when Charles Xavier graduated as a mutant researcher, brimming with knowledge and working towards creating peace between humans and mutants. He himself is a mutant with the unique ability to read peoples minds and control them. Erik Lehnsherr aka Magneto (Fassbender) suffered at the hands of a Nazi officer, Sebastian Shaw (Bacon) who murdered his mother in order to enrage Erik and bring out his magnetic powers. Ever since, Erik, seething with anger, has sworn revenge against Shaw and his accomplices. Shaw is trying to take advantage of the Cold War and has pitched the Russians and the Americans against each other and hopes to trigger a nuclear war which would see the destruction of the worlds two largest super-powers with him emerging as the ruler of the world. Erik, Charles and CIA Agent Moira MacTaggert (Byrne) along with a group of young mutants have decided to take matters into their own hands to prevent a third world war. The biggest plus side of the movie is the continuation of the story and not just the simple good vs evil plotline. The movie highlights the fallout between Xavier and Magneto which was an essential missing link to the main storyline. Their is tons of hugely destructive action sequences, although many people may point and laugh at the super-natural powers and its complete preposterousness. The movie hints at a sixth installment and considering the missing story from X-Men: Wolverine be prepared for at least 2 more movies in this ever famous series.

Thumbs up: Great action, good plot

Thumbs down: Good enough for a prelogue to the main story, no major fallout

Rating: 7.2/10

Salt (2010)

2011-06-13T11:41:00.022+05:30

Genre: Action/Crime

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Daniel Olbrychski

A long-serving CIA Agent, Evelyn Salt (Jolie) interrogates a Russian spy Orlov (Olbrychski) who tips Salt of about the assassination of the Russian President who is due to visit the USA. He sings a tale of how American children were kidnapped and brainwashed to become Russian spies and sent back to USA to carry out secret operations. Orlov mentions that the name of the spy who will kill the President is Evelyn Salt. Scared for her and her husbands life, Salt is on the run and her boss Ted Winter (Schreiber) refuses to accept the fact that she could be a Russian spy. The biggest plus point of the movie is the amount of action and explosion that it packs. It might get a too much towards the end but for any die-hard action fan, this is the movie to watch. The action actually takes a front-foot against the story, which is close to nothing. The movie suggests that a sequel will follow; wait and watch.

Thumbs up: Amazing action

Thumbs down: Lack of plot

Rating: 6.8/10

The Hangover Part II (2011)

2011-05-28T17:22:00.000+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Adventure/Mystery

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, Mason Lee, Jamie Chung

When a legendary movie tries to make a come back with a second edition, many people are sceptical about the success of the re-attempt and fear that the legend would be damaged forever. I, was a part of this clan and now I stand corrected. In every way, the part II is in every way same as the first movie with only two changes, the location and mess-ups. Stu (Helms) is getting married to Lauren (Chung) in Thailand accompanied by his friends Alan (Galifianakis) Phil (Cooper) Doug (Bartha) and Lauren's younger brother Teddy (Lee). Stu did not want a bachelor party and a few harmless drinks by a bonfire on the beach led to a similar outcome as last time. Doug, apparently, is at the hotel cause he went back to bed quite early. Phil, Stu and Aaron are in a dingy hotel in Bangkok along with Chow (Jeong) whom they got no idea where he came from and Teddy is missing with only his chopped finger found on the floor. The movie has some really good laughs and although the entire fundamentals of the movie is exactly the same as the previous one, the movie is equally unpredictable and very funny. Performances are top-notch and almost flawless. Hats-off to the entire crew but I would still be wary if they try to make a third part.

Thumbs up: Performances, hugely funny

Thumbs down: None whatsoever

Rating: 8.0/10

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

2011-05-26T18:19:00.000+05:30

Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy/Comedy/Drama

Starring: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush, Ian McShane, Kevin McNally

The ever famous Captain Jack Sparrow returns once again in the fourth edition of the Pirates of the Caribbean series of movies. It was rumoured that Captain Jack Sparrow has visited the Fountain of Youth and with the Spanish searching for the fountain, the English want to get there first. Captain Barbossa (Rush) has joined alliance with the Crown and wants Jack to be first mate and get him to the Fountain of Youth. Jack, ever fond of his pre-fix 'Captain' refuses to play second fiddle escapes only to find himself encounter his long lost love from Spain, Angelica (Cruz). Angelica reveals herself to be the daughter of the pirate Blackbeard (McShane) who has been prophesied to be killed by Barbossa in a fortnight. Fearing his life, Blackbeard wants to get to the fountain before the prophesy can turn out to be true and Captain Sparrow will be the one to get him there. The movie is a massive let down to all Jack Sparrow fans with a whole lot of 'new' changes which have spoilt the fun and feel of the previous movies. Most of the cast has been changed with a lot of new characters that dont seem to fit in, the plot has got no link whatsoever with the previous movies and is an entirely new story. The main reason for these drastic changes could be the new director compared to the earlier three movies. The movie misses out on the Jack Sparrow charisma and humour which made the movie different from the conventional. Nonetheless, Johnny Depp has taken the show away and done a fabulous performance just like what one can expect it to be. I just hope Disney does not make a fifth one and ruin the entire series.

Thumbs up: Johnny Depp

Thumbs down: New star cast, new story, new director

Rating: 6.5/10

Toy Story (2010)

2011-05-14T18:25:00.000+05:30

Genre: Animation/Adventure/Comedy/Drama

Starring (voice): Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty, Don Rickles, Michael Keaton

The third installment of the very famous Toy Story series finally comes after almost a decade after the release of the second movie. The Toy Story movies were known for their unique plot and high-quality animation which, thankfully, the second movie has continued. Woody (Hanks) is a toy cowboy who was once the favourite of Andy, a young American boy. Andy has now grown up and is all ready to go to college and does not play with his toys anymore, much to the disappointment of Woody and his friends. Andy intended to put his toys away in the attic but they accidentally find themselves being donated away to a daycare centre. Woody wants to stay back with Andy but the other toys feel Andy doesn't care for them any longer and should move on. The toys at the daycare centre follow the orders of an evil bear Lotso (Beatty) who puts all the new toys to the toddler rooms since he knows they will get beaten up and misused, something that none of the other toys want to go through. Woody manages to escape from the daycare but comes back when he learns of the cruelty that all his friends are suffering and needs to find a way to rescue them. The audience of the original movies was much different who have now grown up and the new younger generation are not familiar with the character and movie background. Nonetheless, the movie is an easy and entertaining watch that will appeal to all, young and old. It excels at what it was created to do and anything beyond that would be asking for too much.

Thumbs up: Great animation, good plot

Thumbs down: Some more humour maybe

Rating: 7.8/10

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

2011-05-14T18:17:00.002+05:30

Genre: War/Drama/History/Action/Crime

Starring: Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'Onofrio, Kevyn Major Howard, Arliss Howard, R. Lee Ermey

A group of young boys decide to take the boldest decision of their life, to join the US Marine Corps. Their drill instructor Gny. Sgt. Hartman (Ermey) has sworn to make their life as miserable as he could. he recruits get names according to their nature and behaviour. The funny person was called Pvt. Joker (Modine), the fat person was called Pvt. Pyle (Baldwin) and so on. The movie is more or less narrated with the perspective of Pvt. Joker and his experiences during military training and the subsequent deployment in Vietnam. He became a war correspondent for the army by interviewing soldiers and covering stories from the battle field. The journalists craved to pull the trigger of their guns at least once in battle and when the time finally came, everybody wished it never did. The movie does not have any objective or something in particular to bring out from the movie. Its a simple narration of a soldiers life from scratch till war. The performances in the movie were good and well supported. Although this movie cannot be classified as an outright comedy, it has the satire and hidden humour that would definitely bring out those unintentional giggles. Although the movie more or less tries to focus on overcoming your fears, the end of objective may not be clear to all. Perhaps a more structured and objective plot might have helped in the movie reaching out to a wider audience. Nonetheless, a great war movie.

Thumbs up: Brilliant acting

Thumbs down: Plot is a simple narration

Rating: 7.8/10

Ben-Hur (1959)

2011-05-08T18:03:00.000+05:30

Genre: Drama/Romance/History/Biography/Adventure

Starring: Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, Martha Scott, Cathy O'Donnell, Jack Hawkins

The tales of Jesus Christ, infused with the story of the Jewish Prince, Judah Ben-Hur (Heston) who got betrayed by his Roman childhood friend Messala (Boyd) for Judah supported the Jewish cause over the Roman one. Judah and his family, his sister Tirza (O'Donnell) and mother Miriam (Scott) were sent to the gallows by Messala to rot and die. Judah, in all his determination, vows to return and take Messala's life. He then gets thrown in a journey of slavery and travel to make his way back to Jerusalem where he once again encounters Messala and decides to stub the Roman arrogance once and for all. The movie is well renowned and popular, however, the entire storyline, in isolation, is quite simple and nothing out of the ordinary. Friendship that turned sour and revenge that was sworn. The attribute that made the movie better was the Roman-Jewish setup along with the background of Jesus Christ. Although the movie proclaims to be the tale of Jesus Christ, there is very little of him which majorly comes only toward the end. The movie is a lovely watch, with some very phenomenal performances. The movie has a unique blend of film noir along with some more contemporary performances which makes it even better.

Thumbs up: Great performances, good plot outline

Thumbs down: Stretched and long

Rating: 7.7/10

Dum Maaro Dum (2011)

2011-04-23T18:25:00.000+05:30

Genre: Crime/Drama/Romance/Thriller/Mystery

Starring: Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha Basu, Prateik Babbar, Rana Daggubati, Aditya Pancholi, Govind Namdeo, Muzammil S. Qureshi

Goa, India, the land of sun and sand, bikinis and babes, hippies and druggies, crime and murder. People from around the world come here to party and get high, but the party is just about to get disrupted by one big party-pooper. Lorsa Biscuta (Pancholi) is the drug lord of Goa. If there is anything at all going on in the drug world, he would be the first to know. ACP Vishnu Kamath (Bachchan) is a corrupt cop in the narcotics division. One day when his family dies in a car accident due to a druggie, his life changes forever and he swears to clean the streets of Goa. Laurence Edwardo Gomes aka Lorry (Babbar) is the average Goan youth who aspired to go to USA to study, along with his girlfriend. His dreams, however, come crashing down when his financial aid does not get approved but his girlfriends does who has to leave him to pursue her academic career. A local drug peddler hears about Lorry's sob story and agrees to pay off his fees provided he carry some cocaine with him to the US. In an act of desperation, Lorry agrees much to his later regret. Meanwhile, ACP Kamath is cracking a whip on the party scene and Biscuta stashes his dope with a mysterious Michael Barbossa. In each part of Goa he is known by a different name, nobody knows him, nobody has seen him and Kamath is out to search for him. Joki (Daggubati) is Lorry's well-wisher who is trying to prevent him from doing what he is about to do. His ex-girlfriend Zoe (Basu) went through the entire phase that Lorry is about to go through now and he doesn't want to lose another friend. The stories eventually merge to bring out a possibly predictable outcome. If you actually put your head to it its not hard for some people to figure the mystery out. Rohan Sippy's movies were always something and this movie too aspires to be different. Abhishek Bachchan and Prateik Babbar put together a fabulous performance, although Bachchan always seemed over-aggressive and too enthusiastic, it suited the role he was trying to play. The only flaw in the otherwise decent movie was the extended run-time. Bollywood is notorious for stretched movies and this one is no different. Possibly if the plot developed slightly faster with a more twisted climax, the movie would have been far more interesting. Great watch with some nice foot-tapping numbers.

Thumbs up: Good performances, nice plot

Thumbs down: A bit stretched

Rating: 7.8/10

Fast Five (2011)

2011-04-22T17:09:00.000+05:30

Genre: Action/Crime

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Matt Schluze, Gal Gadot, Dwayne Johnson, Elsa Pataky, Joaquim de Almeida

The Fast and Furious saga started of as movie with adrenaline rushing racing, crazy cars and hot babes. The past two movies (including this one) have, sadly, shifted their focus and cars have been quickly replaced by crime. Dominic Toretto (Diesel) is sentenced to prison for his crime in the previous movie but escapes shortly with the help of Brian O'Conner (Walker) and his sister Mia (Brewster). Before the police can get to them, the trio drive their way down all the way to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and meet up with Dominic's old accomplice Vince (Schulze). Reyes (Almeida) is Rio's biggest crime lord and Mia, Brian, Dom and Vince do a job with Reyes and his men. The job goes wrong, three federal agents and they attract enough heat to get FBI Agent Hobbs (Johnson) to come all the way down to Rio and sort business out. Dom wants to do one last job before they quit the business forever, one job where they take Reyes down for good. The movie did have some really amazing action and hugely destructive action sequences, yet the plot did not live up to the brands reputation. Whatever cars and racing was there, it seemed to be forced rather than with the movies plot. Two masterminds assembling a team for one big robbery, ever heard of Oceans Eleven? Amongst other faults, the attribute for which each team member was selected by Dom and Brian did not reflect in the movie. It is entertaining, no doubt, but not the Fast and Furious kind of entertainment. Felt more like a heist movie on steroids.

Thumbs up: Great mind-bogging action

Thumbs down: No racing, not too much of cars

Rating: 6.2/10

Thank You (2011)

2011-04-19T16:03:00.000+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Akshay Kumar,Sonam Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Suniel Shetty, Irrfan Khan, Celina Jaitley, Rimi Sen

The million dollar question, what is Bollywoods one and only formula to create a comedy movie? Answer; Akshay Kumar + a foreign location + tons of skimpy clad woman + husband-wife complications. Been there, seen it, done that. Raj (Deol), Yogi (Shetty) and Vikram (Khan) are three friends conducting business together who regularly cheat on their wives and have loads of other mistresses. To avoid getting caught, they watch out for each other and have a ball of a time. Raj's wife Sanjana (Kapoor) loves her husband to no end and refuses to agree upon the fact that he might be cheating on her. Yogi and Vikrams' wives, Maya (Jaitley) and Shivani (Sen) introduce her to detective Kishan (Kumar) who specialises in conducting sting operations against cheating husbands/wives. He tries to collect evidence to prove to Sanjana that there is indeed an affair going on with Raj and some other woman. Meanwhile, Raj, Vikram and Yogi suspect that there is someone trying to bring out their secret to their wives and hence they too hire Kishan to find out who is uncovering their secrets. The usual confusion, mix-up and stupidity follows which gives you a week-long hangover. The plot is utterly ridiculous and the melodrama and unwanted craziness is just too much to digest. My condolences to everyone who had to bear the brunt of this movie and my sincere apologies for not posting this review early enough.

Thumbs up: Hmm, probably the tons of bikini-clad woman will win this one

Thumbs down: Everything, literally

Rating: 4.2/10

Source Code (2011)

2011-04-18T18:26:00.001+05:30

Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Drama/Romance

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaall, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright

Yep, another unbelievable American science-fiction movie. Colter Stevens (Gyllenhaal) is a US Army soldier who has been assigned a task in a new research project undertaken by the government. The device, developed by Dr. Rutledge (Wright), is capable of extracting the memory of a dead person limited to the last 8 minutes before death. A passenger train in Chicago was bombed and many more such attacks are to follow. Colter Stevens is asked to assume the identity of a passenger on the train whose memory has been extracted. He has 8 minutes to go back in time and assume the identity of the person and find the bomber, if the 8 minutes run out, he is reset back in the same scenario over and over again until his mission is completed, however, each reset means that the bomber in reality is slowly approaching his and Colter has very little time. He meets Christina (Monoghan) on the train who is an associate of the man whose identity he has assumed and falls in love with her. Apart from just deactivating the bomb, he wants to save the lives of every other person on the train, including Christina. In order to understand the format of the movie in more simpler terms, simply imagine yourself playing a computer game where each unsuccessful mission makes you reset the game and you try a different tactic. The movie gets boring with the same scenarios occurring over and over again with a very weak climax. The romance bit too didn't help too much but just made it a bigger bore.

Thumbs up: Nothing in particular

Thumbs down: Boring plot and story

Rating: 6.0/10

Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach (2009)

2011-04-11T16:55:00.000+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Sports

Starring: Sean William Scott, Randy Quaid, Brando Eaton, Emilee Wallace, A.D. Miles

Most sex-comedies try to make a living out of the same limited objectives; show some stupidity along with unwanted nudity and this movie is no different. Gary Houseman (Scott) used to love the game of tennis but he felt that tennis never really loved him and hence swore to give up the sport. After a failed tennis career, he became a high school janitor where he once again rubbed shoulders with his estranged sport which sparked his love once more. The tennis team was failing and wasn't getting anywhere and the tennis coach, Lew Tuttle (Quaid) appointed Gary to be the assistant coach after seeing his skills. With the subsequent death of Coach Tuttle, faculty member Steve Pimble (Miles) volunteered to head the tennis team although he knew nothing about the game. Gary and Steve now had the astronomical task on their heads to coach the tennis team and make them win the state champions, just as Coach Tuttle had set out to do. The sad part about the movie is that it had the enormous scope of being fun, but stupid jokes, scenes that don't contribute to the plot and tacky editing made sure that your fun time turns out to be not-so-fun. Sean William Scott and his acting was probably the only saving grace in the movie, had it been anyone else it would have been just worse. An average movie and don't expect fireworks.

Thumbs up: Sean William Scott

Thumbs down: Bad plot execution

Rating: 5.4/10

Limitless (2011)

2011-04-03T01:20:00.000+05:30

Genre: Science-fiction/Crime/Drama

Starring: Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Abbie Cornish, Andrew Howard

Another druggie movie? Maybe, maybe not. Eddie Morra (Cooper) is a low-life aspiring writer who lacks inspiration and words to fulfill his book contract. His girlfriend Lindy (Cornish) dumps him because he cant support himself and his life is not going anywhere he wants it to go. He meets his ex-girlfriends brother on the streets one day who used to be a drug peddler and now claims to be a consultant for a pharmaceutical company. He shows him a new drug called NZT which is due to be made legal in the market which enhances the brains efficiency and improves the persons working capacity. Eddie suddenly receives a shower of enlightenment and is able to write a book in four days and accomplish multiple tasks he couldn't do earlier. He realises that book writing is not going to make him filthy rich so he starts trading on the stock market and quickly gets employed in a stock broking company. He develops an algorithm which makes him determine which way the stock market is going and ends up making millions of dollars. Enter Carl Van Loon (De Niro) a business tycoon who wants to use Eddie's knowledge in helping him improve takeover deals and make him more money. Like any other drug, NZT too has its side-effects whose knowledge and consequences Eddie is unaware of. To answer the very question, yes this is just another drug movie with nothing real to offer. The only good part about the movie is the unique twists in the storyline. Even these twists aren't all that great but somehow manage to improve the movies overall impact and make it more interesting. A decent watch which could have been better.

Thumbs up: Decent improvements to the storyline

Thumbs down: Another run-of-the-mill drug movie

Rating: 6.2/10

Zoom (2006)

2011-03-28T21:01:00.000+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Science-fiction/Fantasy/Adventure/Action

Starring: Tim Allen, Courteney Cox, Chevy Chase, Spencer Breslin, Kate Mara, Michael Cassidy, Ryan Newman

The Zenith Team was a team of super-heroes led by Zoom (Allen) many years ago. The team collapsed when the government tried to artificially enhance their powers which turned Zoom's brother Concussion onto the evil side who subsequently killed all the team members except Zoom who simply lost his powers. Concussion was presumed dead and now the government has information that he will return in less than 10 days. Zoom is now a demoralised aging man who doesn't believe in super-heroes anymore and is recruited by the government to initiate a training programme where people with unique powers are to be recruited and trained by Zoom. A new team is formed consisting of Tucker aka Mega-Boy (Breslin) who can inflate any part of his body, Summer aka Wonder (Mara) who can control objects with her mind, Dylan aka Houdini (Cassidy) who can become invisible and Cindy aka Princess (Newman) who has super-strength. Time is slowly ticking by and the new team is far from ready. With Zoom not having any amount of faith in the children, his demoralising and uninterested attitude don't help things too much. The movie tries to blend every possible genre known to movie-making and makes a big mess of things. Multiple lose strings, scenes added without having anything to do with the storyline and unexplained parts plague the entire movie. The movie might just vaguely appeal to the average 7-year-old but still needs a lot to work on. Highly avoidable.

Thumbs up: Nothing at all

Thumbs down: Bad story, poor acting

Rating: 4.9/10

Freedom Writers (2007)

2011-03-13T03:56:00.000+05:30

Genre: Drama/Biogrpahy/History

Starring: Hillary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton, April L. Hernandez, Mario, Jason Finn

The 1992 Los Angeles riots and gang wars created a deeper racist divide amongst people than it already was. The city got divided into territories and young teenagers who should be in school were instead carrying guns and were thirsty for the blood of rival gang members. Erin Gruwell (Swank) is newly appointed English teacher at the Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach. The school was once a very prestigious institute which has now been downgraded because of the recent integration. Teenagers who come from criminal backgrounds and from juvenile jails are forced to attend school or face going back to prison. Erin realises that teaching them is not as easy as she thought it would be, especially when the students are not interested in learning from her and fights break out every now and then. The head of department Margaret Campbell (Staunton) refuses to allocate school resources to her because she thinks it would be a waste and the students would get nothing out of it. Gruwell goes against the tide to give her students a better life and teach them beyond what she set out to teach in the classroom. Hillary Swank has always been known to put on a fabulous performance and this movie is no different. Along with a very good support cast, the movie shines out tremendously and keeps you gripped in your seat for a very long time. A highly recommended watch for everyone.

Thumbs up: Brilliant performances

Thumbs down: Flawless

Rating: 8.4/10

The Kings Speech (2010)

2011-03-05T00:15:00.000+05:30

Genre: Biography/History/Drama

Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce

Britain, 1925, King George V is on his death-bed and the evaluation of the heirs begins. David, The Prince of Wales (Pearce) is the obvious choice for the throne since he is the elder brother. However, David has never involved himself in assisting his father in kingdom administration and has hence learnt nothing. He wishes to marry an American socialite who is twice divorced, an act prohibited for the king. Prince Albert (Firth) David's younger brother is more suitable for the throne but the only thorn being that he suffers from a stammering problem. With the growth of wireless radio technology, speeches given by the king are becoming more often and if the king cant talk, he cant be king. Princess Elizabeth (Carter) Prince Albert's wife, introduces him to a speech therapist Lionel Logue (Rush) whose unconventional and crazy methods of therapy don't go down well with the Prince. However, after much convincing Logue becomes the Prince's speech therapist who helps him in perfecting his speech and be made ready to become king. Its not everyday that a movie that seems to have a bland and uninspiring outlook manages to entice audiences to such a level. Colin Firth puts on a marvelous performance, something which everybody cant do for such a difficult role. A very gripping and inspiring story and each and every one of those Academy Awards was well-deserved.

Thumbs up: Colin Firth and other performances

Thumbs down: None

Rating: 8.4/10

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008)

2011-03-01T20:19:00.000+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Simon Pegg, Megan Fox, Kirsten Dunst, Jeff Bridges

A good-for-nothing British journalist, Sydney Young (Pegg) is trying desperately to get into the lives of celebrities and run his own gossip magazine, The Post Modern Review. He ends up making a joke of himself in a post-BAFTA party posing with a pig whom he claims played the role of Babe. The editor of the internationally renowned Sharps magazine, Clayton Harding (Bridges) is amused by Young's stupidity and decides to recruit him to work with Sharps. He meets Alison (Dunst) who works with him in the same department, who tries very hard to teach him the tricks of the trade. Sophie Maes (Fox) is the new upcoming hot starlet whom Young cant seem to get his eyes off. Just when things seem to be going down for him, his life changes, but is it for the good? The first thing about the movie that would spark your interest to watch it would be the title itself. The second aspect of the movie that is appealing is Simon Pegg and his sense of humour. He managed to put up a good performance, enough to make you laugh now and then but nothing that you would roll over on the floor. A decent comedy to watch and enjoy once without having any serious expectations.

Thumbs up: Simon Pegg

Thumbs down: Cliched ending

Rating: 7.0/10

7 Khoon Maaf (2011)

2011-02-27T20:53:00.002+05:30

Genre: Drama/Romance/Mystery/Crime/Thriller

Starring: Priyanka Chopra, Neil Nitin Mukesh, John Abraham, Irrfan Khan, Aleksandr Dyachenko, Annu Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Vivaan Shah, Konkana Sen Sharma

The story of a young and beautiful girl, Susanna (Chopra) who marries 7 men and murders each and every one of them. Major Edwin Rodriques (Mukesh) murdered for being overtly jealous, inhuman and proud. Jimmy Stetson (Abraham) murdered for being a drug-addicted rock star. Wasiullah Khan (Khan) a Muslim revolutionist, murdered for being a wife-beater. Nicoli Vronsky (Dyachenko) a Russian scientist, murdered for keeping two wives. Keemat Lal (Kapoor) a police officer, who knew about Susanna's crime and murdered for demanding too much sex in exchange for keeping her out of prison. Dr. Modhusudhon Tarafdar (Shah) a well-versatile scientist, murdered for wanting Susanna's money to pull him out of bankruptcy. The biggest flaw and question mark on the movie is the last and final husband, which was weird, stupid and somehow didn't make any sense and felt as if it was a consequence of pure boredom. Vishal Bhardwaj has been known to make some truly fabulous movies but yet this time he seems to have gotten the formula wrong. The entire murder mystery aspect did not come out as well as it could have or at least as it was intended too. A pretty much predictable and boring movie overall which does not live up to its standards.

Thumbs up: Priyanka Chopra

Thumbs down: Awkward ending

Rating: 6.1/10

Old School (2003)

2011-02-13T22:54:00.001+05:30

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Jeremy Piven, Ellen Pompeo

Three friends are hating their age and want to get back to their wild and youthful days. Mitch (Wilson) broke up with his girlfriend when he came to know that she was having sex with random people, Frank (Ferrell) recently got married and cant handle the responsibility attached with it and Beanie (Vaughn) just simply hates his life. Mitch moves into a new house on a college campus but the new Dean of Students, Dean Pritchard (Piven) holds a long grudge against the three of them and tries to get them evicted. In order to be legally allowed to stay on campus, Beanie decides to start a fraternity of misfits and makes Mitch the fraternity godfather. From 18 year-olds to 89 year-olds, everyone wants to be a part of this new wild fraternity, much to the dislike of Dean Pritchard. There are thousands of ways of doing a sex-comedy wrong and only a few methods to get it right. Thankfully, this movie has followed the correct path to produce a hilarious and entertaining movie, just like what the doctor ordered.

Thumbs up: Great comedy, good fun

Thumbs down: Should have left out the romance bit

Rating: 7.0/10

Unstoppable (2010)

2011-02-09T19:37:00.000+05:30

Genre: Biography/Action

Starring: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson

Ohio, 2001, an unmanned, half-a-mile long train went on the lose due to an error on part of a hostler who jumped off the train to realign the tracks but the trains brakes malfunction and the locomotive picks up speed on full throttle. Unstoppable is based on this true-life incident, exaggerated, when one such train in Pennsylvania, carrying toxic chemicals escapes from the yard and hits the main line at the speed of 70mph. A veteran engineer Frank (Washington) and a rookie conductor Will (Pine) come to the rescue when Franks experience tells him that the only way to stop such a train is to grab it by the tail and apply the brakes. When all chances of derailment and slowing the train fail, Frank and Will link up with the train and attempt to slow it down. The movie has some very good high-intensive action which makes it into a very interesting watch for the action-lover. The overall plot was exaggerated than the actual events which were more sober and low-key. The trailer gives out the entire movie along with the climax, yet the movie is worth a watch simply for its phenomenal action sequences.

Thumbs up: Great action

Thumbs down: Predictable plot

Rating: 7.4/10

Breach (2007)

2011-02-07T03:08:00.000+05:30

Genre: Crime/Drama/Biography

Starring: Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillipe, Laura Linney

FBI agent Robert Hanssen (Cooper) was suspected of selling US military secrets to the Soviet Union which caused heavy damages to American national security and compromised American allies. Along with that, he was also suspected of creating and uploading pornographic content on the internet. Eric O'Neil (Phillipe) an FBI computer specialist with little field experience is assigned the special task to become Hanssen's assistant and to gather evidence so that the FBI can take him down. During the course of this task, Eric learns to respect Robert for all the special and unique abilities he holds to the point that he thinks that he is innocent. He realises that things are not as easy as they seem to be when it starts disrupting his marriage and is quickly running out of team. Hanssens deeds have been said to be the biggest breach in US intelligence. The movie is slow and there are points where it can get boring. It lacks complete suspense and most of the movie revolves around the relationship between Hanssen and O'Neil. The movie needed to be spiced up with some thrills and suspense in order to fully enjoy it. A good movie which could have been better.

Thumbs up: Decent plot

Thumbs down: Slow, needs more enthusiasm

Rating: 6.5/10

The Good German (2006)

2011-02-05T02:07:00.000+05:30

Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller/Mystery

Starring: George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Leland Orser, Toby Maguire

Post World War II, the Allies convened at Berlin to decide the fate of Germany and her allies. Berlin was divided into three sectors, each belonging to USA, Russia and Britain. Tully (Maguire) was an American soldier who used to smuggle supplies onto the Russian side for money. Tully was assigned to be the driver for Jake Geismer (Clooney) an American soldier born and brought up in Berlin who was returning home after the end of the war. Tully's girlfriend, Lena Brandt (Blanchett) is a prostitute who wants to escape from Germany and is taking Tully's help in doing so. Tully learns that Lena's dead husband is wanted by the Russians and he decides to strike a deal with them, intending to escape with the money without delivering Emil Brandt. Tully's dead body is subsequently found on Russian territory and Geismer smells a rat. He decides to dig a bit deeper and find out why Tully was shot, by whom and why do the Russians and the Ameriancs want Emil Brandt so much. The film was shot in black and white and was made to depict the film noir of the 1940's. The very typical drama and acting from that era adorn the film throughout. There really is no visible reason why such a style was given to the film since it does more to destroy and little to enhance the overall effect of the movie. The 40's style may not go down well with audiences of today and possibly if the movie was made in the regular manner sans the melodrama, it might have been a much better watch. A good attempt at being innovative yet, in the end, it is a love it or hate it film.

Thumbs up: Decent murder mystery plot

Thumbs down: 40's style and melodrama may not go down well with everyone

Rating: 6.3/10

How Do You Know (2010)

2011-02-04T03:15:00.000+05:30

Genre: Drama/Romance/Comedy

Starring: Owen Wilson, Jack Nicholson, Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd

Lisa (Witherspoon) an aspiring softball player doesn't make it to the final team and ends up being frustrated and depressed. She gets caught between two men; Matty (Wilson) the self-obsessed and ignorant baseball player and George (Rudd) a Wall Street executive who has a federal charge against him. George's father Charles (Nicholson) framed George for inappropriate business dealings since Charles himself feared going to prison if caught. George's life comes crashing when his girlfriend leaves him and his fathers companies board of directors refuses to pay his legal fees. He finds solace in Lisa who is already in love with Matty but is unsure if she is doing the right thing. The movie is a plain-jane love saga with nothing exceptional to offer. Apart from the few giggles and laughs that the movie manages to conjure, it is more or less a complete waste of any ones time and money. Makes you wonder why any sane-minded person would make such movies.

Thumbs up: The few and scattered humour

Thumbs down: Boring, cliched

Rating: 5.8/10

The Next Three Days (2010)

2011-01-23T22:48:00.000+05:30

Genre: Crime/Drama

Starring: Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Ty Simpkins

The life of a happily married couple gets disrupted when Lara (Banks) gets arrested for the murder of her boss which she apparently did in a fit of rage. John (Crowe) is convinced that his wife was not responsible for the murder and is finding it hard to live with the truth that she has been sentenced for a life term in prison. He decides to break into prison, free his wife and escape from the country, however, breaking into and getting out of prison prison is not as easy as John thinks it is. The movie tries a decent concept but it gets too slow and boring. Some unnecessary parts were over-stretched and the lack of good thrills and suspense completely killed the show for this movie. The only good part was the last half an hour and probably if the entire movie was like the last bit, it would have been so much better to watch. Being a Russell Crowe movie, I tried hard to appreciate and understand it, but it seems the movie doesn't take too kindly to people liking it.

Thumbs up: Last half an hour

Thumbs down: Slow and boring plot, Russell Crowe's presence didn't help the movie too much

Rating: 5.8/10

Henry's Crime (2010)

2011-01-21T19:49:00.000+05:30

Genre: Crime/Drama/Romance/Comedy

Starring: Keanu Reaves, Vera Farmiga, James Caan, Peter Stormare

What happens when you go to jail for a crime you never committed? Henry (Reaves) found himself in that position when he became unintentionally the getaway driver for a bank robbery he never knew he was a part of. After getting out on parole, he thought he might as well rob the bank, now that he has already served the prison sentence for it. He learns of an underground passage which leads from the bank vault to a theatre on the other side. He manages to convince his prison friend Max (Caan) to get out on parole and aid him in the job. In order to have regular access to the theatre, Henry gets friendly with Julie (Farmiga) the lead actress of a play whom he first meets when she ran him down on the streets and later during the play rehearsals. He later manages to secure himself a role in the play which allowed him to dig up the tunnel and get to the bank vault. What he doesn't realise is that the harmless friendship soon blossomed into something he never wanted to happen. The movie is a very typical open and shut romance movie with the most obvious ending. In spite of flaunting a decent star cast, the performances were no good which made for quite a boring watch. The humour aspect of the movie is almost non-existent and manages to throw up less than a handful of small snickers. Wait for the DVD if you really want to watch it.

Thumbs up: Nothing

Thumbs down: Plot and performances

Rating: 5.8/10