The Smurfs

Now this one is going to be a real challenge to write for certain. First of all, I am not quite certain on how one would classify the movie. Animation or Semi Animation. In the interest of avoiding confusion and reducing the number of movie categories on my blog I thought it best to stick to Animation. Secondly, Smurfs is one of the movies that you come out of feeling not too bad but not too good either. It’s a very confused feeling that I walked out of PVR Bangalore feeling very sore on the nose as always (thanks to the heaviest pair of 3D glasses on the planet) – so sore that it hurts 10 hours later as well. So unlike my previous reviews where I rate the movie at the end, I am chosing to call out a 6 on 10 for Smurfs upfront. I did not find anything bad but did not find anything brilliant to call out a higher score.

I first saw the Smurfs Trailer earlier this year and had tweeted that it seemed quite childish / kiddy and that it may not cut ice with too many people in my age group. I will continue to hold that opinion. Smurfs is a movie that you would go with kids in the single digit age group. It will and can be appreciated only by the children or by people who have a significantly larger element of a child in them – ergo by popular belief I should have loved the movie. However, I guess age has caught up with me and I could not quite feel too great of replacing every possible word or part of every possible word in the English language with Smurf. So obviously we have “What the Smurf”!!! or “Where the smurf are we”??? or “Are you feeling Smurfimistic today”? or the only female character in the movie being called Smurfette. Within a few minutes you have Smurf coming out your ears and slowly but surely it turns from being an irritant to something that you learn to tolerate and you may eventually find yourself surprised as hell that you actually like doing it. You will find the same feelings with the excruciatingly blue colour of these pint sized characters created by the Belgian cartoonist Peyo way back in 1958.

Yes it is corny as hell I can assure you. Like the Smurfs find themselves a couple of times atop a taxi which has a signage of The Blue Man Band or Blu Ray Discs. Forever and ever all of these characters land up in New York City. As always, the Smurfs stay in a fictional land which is hidden from all life in general and no one knows where it actually is. Again, as always, they are being chased by an evil magician (or villain) who goes by the name of Gargamel and has a heinous cat as his trusted aide. As always, they have a fascinating way that they have to use to get back home and of course as always they have to get assistance from a kind hearted couple who are expecting their first child. Exceptionally predictable and funny in parts with some great 3D which is the high point of the movie. Must watch for kids. Not as much for adults.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi4133133593/

Singham

Now here is a case of a movie being as good (or should I say as bad) as a trailer. Such a welcome relief for the avid movie watcher like me which cuts the crap and the red tape and shows what the entire movie is about in just the trailer. I wish there were more such movies which are made. The viewer would know exactly what is in store for her / him. A brilliant way to ensure that expectations match the final result and therefore the viewer doesn’t really leave the hall feeling cheated in anyways. Come on guys – what more can a movie maker do? He can put his heart and soul into making the movie and then ensure that the movie is marketed enough with the right trailer being shown in the right place. Now if you expect the makers of the movie to say, “Pretty much what you want to see in the movie is in the trailer” as a scroller on the trailer then I think you are expecting a bit too much folks. Why would they shoot themselves in the foot? Use what the person up above as give you that is between your ears sometimes and make up your mind. If u still believe that you aren’t satisfied and your curiosity gets the better of you then go right ahead and spend your hard earned money in whichever way you want.

Singham is anything but an original movie. It was supposed to be a remake of the Tamil Version starring Surya. Now here again I think it was my fault that I expected Rohit Shetty to actually give us something that was at least a bit different. Now why should someone go through the effort when you have someone else’s experience to learn from. And Rohit does exactly that. Smart work in a way. Just some confusion between whether he wanted to make the movie in Hindi or Marathi or Tullu (People in Goa speak Konkani right?). But if the audiences are loving it then why not I say. Rohit sticks to what he knows best – dramatization and cheap humour.

Singham is peppered with corny one liners – quite a few of them are in really bad taste. Stuff like “India mein sirf 1400 sher bachein hain (only 1400 tigers left in India)” OR “Cockroach ko marne ke liye Baygon nahin milta hai to Paragon bhi chalega” or snide references to the Brrrrrr commercial of Coca Cola – all of this come together to give something that the audiences seem to like. A lot at that. People could not stop laughing. One of these days, I am going to slide down the abyss of understanding and appreciating cheap humour. God save me from that day!!!!

Acting is not something you could expect from a Rohit Shetty movie but one person who stands out would be Ashok Samarth (remember Inspector Malvankar from ek Chaalis Ki Last Local) who in his role of Shiva Naik does a solid job. The rest of the cast is quite insipid. Kajal Agarwal debuts as the heroine whose primary role seems to be carrying Bajirao Singham’s belt, gun and uniform. Ajay Devgn tries very hard to do a Rajnikanth but Rajni Saar is Rajni Saar. Ajay doesn’t come even close to Surya who did the Tamil version so Rajni Saar is currently on a different planet as far as Ajay is concerned. Sachin Khedekar does his image no good and neither does Anant Jog or for that matter Govind Namdeo. All good actors in their own right who have taken themselves down to really low levels. Rohit must have paid them a lot.

In a nutshell, save yourself the pains of going to the movie halls. Singham is playing on you tube. The link for trailer is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp-XqCrCi6I. And while you are at it, watch the Tamil Trailer as well and judge for yourself if there are any similarities http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9pMoHK8XZg&feature=fvsr. I thought it was a superb cut / copy paste job. If you still gather the courage to go to the screen, please don’t miss the beginning and Ajay Devgn’s Singham Claw dance and his effort to speak Marathi *yawn*. 3 on 10 for this one purely for some good action.

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

Welcome to Spain – one of the most gorgeous countries in the world. It is seemingly out of a picture postcard and has oh! so many things to see and do – and when you are done with it, you can just laze around doing well… nothing and still feel great about it. A visit to Spain must include and start with this gorgeous place which is arguably the best city in the world – Gaudi’s City aka Barcelona. The Catalan province offers sights that are absolutely out of a picture postcard. One can also choose to indulge in a bit of art especially those from Indian artistes who have fathered children back in India and run away – petrified at the thought of being a parent.

And then you move onto the absolutely gorgeous Costa Brava towards the north east of Catalonia where the probability of meeting a gorgeous diving instructor of Indian origin who stays in London and goes by the name of Laila (Katrina Kaif) is like 100% - especially if you book in advance. The ocean @ Costa Brava defines the term “Clear Blue” and is perfecto for diving. So what if you haven’t dived before and are petrified of the water, the gorgeous instructor will ensure you are at peace and while you are at it, you find some as well…. Inner peace that is. After you have learnt diving, and found inner peace, you move to Valencia where you must spend a few days in a swanky villa courting the diving instructor and then make your way thanks to her request to the La Tomatina festival @ Buñol, Spain. Here you will also meet a cute Spanish girl who will fall in love with you without knowing a word that you speak.

The next stop in your trip would be the all the way down south from the north east, to the all time famous district of Seville which offers you crash courses in Sky Diving – an activity that I have always wanted to do but cannot thanks to me being only about 20 kgs above the admissible mark of weight for sky diving. After your have finished your thrills in life, you have to make your way back up North because a visit to Spain cannot be completed without the Pamplona Running of the Bulls – another brilliant way to have a near death experience. Now mind you, La Tomatina happens late August and the Bull Run in early July but time travel is possible in a Zoya Akhtar movie. After doing all of the above, you would figure out that one must live life for today because Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (You only live once).

By far the biggest advertising campaign that I have seen for Spain in India, I would not be surprised if ZNMD was sponsored by the government of Spain – a brilliant new business model cracked by the smarter breed of movie makers. The only difference between a programme on TLC or Times NOW or Discovery Channel would be decent humour thrown in and some crappy dialogues with some good performances from the likes of a Farhan Akhtar make this movie a decent one time watch. Hritik has always been a good actor but tries too hard as always. With Abhay Deol & Kalki, I am not quite able to figure out if the role demanded it or they were just too uncomfortable with the idea of being in mainstream cinema. Katrina was gorgeous as always. Zoya shows marginal improvement over her first attempt @ Bollywood but she will still come on an pre-Oscar show and pretend to know everything about movie making. And yes, the final dance sequence is blatantly borrowed from Hitch – frame by frame. So much for originality. Overall the movie was average at best.


And any rumours that you hear about ZNMD being close to DCH are just that – RUMOURS. DCH was miles ahead of its time and will continue to be picked in the list of path breaking cinema from Bollywood. ZNMD doesn’t stand a chance. 5 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkpoBIseGAc

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2

To start on a humourous note, here is a letter that was doing the rounds yesterday. It read

Dear Mr. Harry Potter,
If I had taken 8 movies to kill the villain in my movie, I would have give the money back
Rajnikanth

8 movies and 10 years down the line after creating enough derangement amongst fans and generating euphoria like never been seen before amongst young & old alike and contributing new the English language through hilarious but useful spells such as Wingardium Leviosa or the more deadly Avada Kedavra and spawning the careers of 3 kids aged 11, 12 and 13 who have now grown upto being 21, 22 and 23 (what a mathematical genius I am) respectively Pottermania finally comes to a close – correction – pottermania can never die; the series has come to a close. Pottermania took the world by storm in the late 90s, moved into being a cult figure which was sought only by the geeks of the world and has now left a legacy for many many generations to come. Purists may debate if I were to compare J K Rowling to the evergreen Enid Blyton but that is what marketing has done to the field of writing and extended the same to movie making. The fact of the matter is that kids these days would rather swear by Harry, Hermione and Ron and would have no clue to who Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Tim were.

The last edition of the series will probably break all previous records of collections and earnings simply because it has been by far the most anticipated to date – thanks to the hype created around Harry Potters imminent death at the hands of Tom Riddle aka Lord Voldemort because the dark lord has got his hands on the Elder Wand. The movie takes exactly at the spot where Part 1 ended and continues with its dark cinematography. I get the concept of the deathly hallows guys but why would you want to make a movie primarily meant for kids into something that is so painful on the eyes. And in such a dark environment, the search for the remaining 3 Horcruxes (or should I say 4) starts with right earnest. Our 3 heroes break into Bellatrix Lestrange’s locker, talk to the ghost of Ravenclaw Tower, take the fight to Nagini (remember the hideous snake from the first part) and also take on Voldemort’s army in the bargain. All makes up for the right mixture of a wonderful way to spend your evening with family or friends. At the risk of sounding like a stuck record – maybe they could have added some light to the movie – just too damn dark.

The direction is as consistent as David Yates can get it to be. Considering that he has directed more Potter movies than anyone else (Chris Columbus -2 and one each for Alfonso Cuarón & Mike Newell), he would be – rightfully – under the skin of his character. The effects are as always fabulous but it is not at all mandatory to watch this or Part 1 in 3D and definitely not @ PVR (cant get enough of putting my request for lighter glasses). Wholesome entertainment as I had called for Part 1 also. Same score 7 on 10. Have a lovely Potter filled weekend folks!!!!

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi128621593/

Larry Crowne

A good solid Romantic Comedy after quite a while is what one would feel after watching Larry Crowne – released last weekend. Not only does Larry Crowne give us an opportunity to watch 2 of the best actors of our time together on screen once again (Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts share screen space after Charlie Wilson’s War) but also treats us to some really acidic and extremely enjoyable humour with just that little bit of romance thrown in as garnish. Tom Hanks takes his position behind the camera for the 2nd time (the first time was with “That Thing you Do” – my question on twitter answered with a bit of research). The 15 year hiatus doesn’t seem to have done much for him from a perspective of direction that it. He was as good or as bad with Larry Crowne as he was with That Thing You Do. Now I am sure all of us have immense respect to Tom Hanks as a director but his presence behind the camera may not have as much of a fan following. He does make the cut comfortably though as in his work is quite decent but nowhere close to people who direct movies for a living. Unlike a Clint Eastwood who is able to translate his experiences in front of the camera to behind it as well – a very rare breed indeed.

Despite all of this, the consummate ease with which Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts essay their characters in Larry Crowne would have been an absolute joy for the tweenagers who shared screen space with them in the movie. Effortless is the word that comes to mind when one looks at their performances and what is commendable is the way they carry the support cast with them. Gugu Mbatha-Raw – an amazing tongue twister of a name – who plays the character of Talia is fluent and seems unfazed in the face of the two behemoths of Hollywood. Wilmer Valderrama (remember Fez from That 70s Show) seems to have come of age and left slapstick behind him (although I am a fan of That 70s). The script is funny for certain and the sarcastic humour helps a lot. When Larry is being inducted to the Scooter Group he is asked to raise his right hand and say something patriotic. He does exactly that – raises his right hand and says, “We will be back after these short messages” – hilarious I say!!!!

Larry Crowne could have done with some more pace but the dialogues and the acting more than make up for the speed of the movie. One has to be patient to keep looking out for the moments that make it a fun movie to watch. I cannot say that it would appeal to all generations alike. But if u give it a chance then you will come out quite pleased about the way you have spent a little over 90 minutes. And yes, interesting bit of trivia. The movie has been written by Tom Hanks and one Nia Vardalos (remember My Big Fat Greek Wedding). That would probably explain where the humour came from. A lovely way to spend your Sunday afternoon with that really special someone. 6 on 10 is definitely on. Maybe more if u are a real sucker for RomComs.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1973459993/

The Next Three Days

How often have you watched a movie in 3 installments? I had the good fortune of experiencing this last month over 3 flights of Jet Airways. Actually over 2 months. What started as an excited opportunity to watch Paul Haggis’s (Crash) last movie to be released soon turned out to be an endeavor or an ordeal of sorts. The movie is not available on DVD anywhere (in Mumbai at least) and therefore you have to go through the pains of hoping that the next Jet Airways flight you take has in-flight entertainment and therefore an opportunity to finish off the rest of the movie. My past experiences on the Jet Airways Mumbai Bangalore sector have taught me that it is next to impossible to finish a movie in the flight itself. So I was mentally prepared to split any movie into 2 but the cheapskates these days don’t start in flight till well into the flight and are quite prompt to shut it down a good 15 minutes before landing. And in such cases, the 2nd flight becomes excruciatingly painful because they have shut off the entertainment some 10 minutes before the climax!!!! How cruel is that!!!!

Anyways, Paul Haggis comes back after a hiatus of sorts of about 3 years. His last release was the much nominated “In the Valley of Elah” starring Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron. Haggis continues with the magic that he started with Crash in 2004 (technically his first full length was a movie called Red Hot that released in 1993) – one of the few people to have made a successful transition from the small screen to the silver one. The intensity of The Next Three Days can only be described as Haggisesque. It’s a slow, throbbing kind of feeling that you get in the first few minutes when suddenly something slaps you straight across your face followed by the same throbbing kind of feeling which is extremely slow and keeps you rooted to the screen till eventually the movie climaxes beautifully and sometimes in an expected manner – with a little bit of a twist. Haggis keeps his audiences engaged at all times with narration that is so tight that it could put a 17th Century Corset to shame.

That he has the good fortune of working with the likes of a Russel Crowe who can translate the pain felt by a father of a 6 year old who is immensely in love with his wife but finds himself helpless when his wife is arrested and convicted for murder. I have a new found respect for Elizabeth Banks who I believe is quite under rated as an actress but is genuinely one of the most versatile actresses around today. Fantastic editing and just the right music have always been the hallmark of a Haggis movie and you will continue to see that here as well. Watching it over 3 flights was the only regret that I could have. This one must be seen straight through. Did it release in India last year? No clue to how I could have missed a Haggis movie. 8 on 10 for certain. Get your hands on this one.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2143750425/

Chillar Party

We were always in the age of the first time director. And now it is the age of first time director pairs. Vikas Bahl and Nitesh Tiwari seem like 2 people who really like kids and canines alike. To pick a project such as Chillar Party as their first movie takes a lot of courage and more importantly would require loads of love for children and dogs to be in a position to handle the stresses that come with it. And I must say that it showed. Their handling of 8 brats and 1 girl was commendable for a first attempt. Not that the artistes were mind blowing in any way (with the exception of a couple) but they made the cut for certain. It would have been quite an experience for both directors and the cast I am certain. What was heartening to see was for the first time someone has taken up the cause of protection of dogs and the ridiculous rules that the government keeps putting up from time to time to “rid” the city of the “menace” called stray dogs. Being a dog lover like I am, I was quite thrilled to see the effort and call out three cheers on the subject of the movie for sure!!! I hope the movie gets people to change their perspective about street dogs in general and that they are nowhere close to being dangerous animals.

Chillar Party is a movie that parents must take their kids for not just because it is an all out entertainer but because it has so many messages. Once you filter those which are useless such as speaking “Mawali” (local lingo in Mumbai) you have a story that is inspirational. The movie talks about how it is important to take up a cause and fight for it to the end. Do what is right even if it means you don’t keep everyone happy. Stay with friends and stand up for them and their rights no matter what. Kids have a heart and have feelings too – a fact that loads of us forget – and it is essential for parents to not only recognize and acknowledge that but also channelize them in the right direction. The Chillar Party of Lucky Singh aka Panauti (Chinmai Chandranshuh), Silencer (Vedant Desai), Ramashanker Aiyer aka Akram (Rohan Grover), Shaolin (Divji Handa), Balwan aka Jhangya (Naman Jain), Aflatoon (Aarav Khanna), Laxman aka Second hand (Vishesh Tiwari) and Arjun aka Encyclopedia (Sanath Menon) team up with the local mini celebrity who is called Toothpaste (Shreya Sharma) to generate excitement and push for retaining 2 people who come into their lives and become an integral part of it – The local car washer Phatka (Irfan Khan) and his cute mutt Bhidu. In the bargain, they ruffle up a few feathers, make a few enemies, shake up the system, help people look beyond the external looks and most importantly show the world that you are never too small to take on a challenge – ala David v/s Goliath

Chillar Party is not really worth raving about from a perspective of acting – and I have mentioned this that I hate to break a kid’s heart but have to call out the acting as average at best – a tad robotic in parts. Stand out performances come from Chinmai Chandranshuh and Naman Jain. The direction is above par but the music isn’t. The story is good but the finishing and narration are not. Overall too many cons from a perspective of movie making but entertaining and enjoyable. Don’t miss the “Chaddi March” which is the highlight of the movie other than “Tain Tain Phis” starring Ranbir Kapoor which comes after the credits and is extremely well choreographed. I give it 5.5 on 10 as a movie but encourage you once again to watch it for sure.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls7hxjVnHNQ

Murder 2

This is the country of the formula movie is what they say. And who better to understand the fine art of formula movie making that the Bhatt family. They have cracked it ages back and continue to dish out the same stale formula time and over again. But whaddya know??? It still works. The full houses @ movie halls would indicate that. Murder 2 has opened to a strong reception from the audiences who have lapped up every one of the formula movies that the Bhatts have released over the past couple of decades. And what was surprising from my perspective was the fact that the couple which was making out right next to me in the hall was actually seeing the movie for the 2nd time!!!! Aaaargh!!! Let me assure you that there is not much in Murder 2 that can make you come back for a second helping. But the woman next to me would disagree with what I say. If she had it her way, she would have jumped onto screen and licked the serial kisser to death when he says – “Haan teri biwi ne thappad maara tha jab meine uske saath raat bitane se mana kar diya tha” (your wife slapped me when I refused to sleep with her last night). Pardon me if the narration is not verbatim but it was definitely to that extent. That the crowd didn’t explode into a huge cheer and throw money on screen was only because it was Emraan Hashmi narrating the dialogue and not Rajni Saar.

Mohit Suri continues his love story with the Bhatts which started back in 2005 I think with Kalyug & Zeher – another one of those lucky directors like Abhinay Deo who gets 2 movies in his debut year. Deo can take heart coz Mohit Suri has delivered 5 more pot boilers after that and is considered to be reasonably successful. That Suri has not improved in his direction capabilities should not bother Deo much because he has definitely shown marked improvement with Delhi Belly. Mohit Suri on the other hand trusts the standard formula which distracts the audiences from seeing the oh so startling flaws in consistency. The formula is very simple actually. Every once in a while get Jackie Fernandes to take her top off and stand in a bikini and the male part of the audience is staring at the screen with the jaw on the floor and the tongue that has rolled on about 6 feet in front under the seats. The ladies are probably at the same time fuming through their ears about how anyone can look so hot. That Jackie’s role is restricted to making phone calls which don’t get a response, stripping off her bikini in a loo, smashing wine glasses, trying to act drunk (and badly at that), kissing Hashmi (and really well at that) and getting tied up at the end with scotch tape and almost killed is the disappointing part. I have always thought she is a decentish actress. This one doesn’t help her cause in Bollywood much I can assure you.

The only acting visible in the movie is that of Prashant Narayanan who is quite solid actually and a contender for this year’s awards in the Best Villain category for certain. He is ice cold and definitely makes you feel a chill down your spine. I am glad because it was time that he got a break that makes use of the immense talent that he has and doesn’t portray him as the usual “Sadak Chhap Mawali” (Street Urchin – crudely translated) that he lands up playing. What is also disappointing about this Bhatt movie is that there is only one song worth its while. Overall as below average as any of the movies starring the serial kisser. 4 on 10 is what I would give it. If I had a choice to watch Chillar Party and Murder 2, I would go for the former.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZkUz_fFJck

Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap

I had returned from a long long trip last weekend and could manage to catch only Delhi Belly. I would have loved to catch up with Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap (BHTB) last weekend itself but what discouraged me was a massive bout of tiredness (which led me to sleep for 14 hours at a stretch last Sunday i.e. 4 pm to 6 am) and the fact that I wasn’t really kicked about the prospect of watching a crappy Big B movie which would have turned out to be like Jaadugar or Ganga Jamuna Saraswati or stuff on those lines – u guys get the drift right? That the show time would have made me wait for nearly 2 hours helped me make my decision really quick and I chose not to watch it last weekend. However, when people started speaking about the movie in good light I was quite intrigued and said to myself that I must try and catch up with it; so what if it was a week later.

If there was a a sure formula to ensure success in this country it would have been include the Big B in your cast. Releasing BHTB along with Delhi Belly was probably the reason that BHTB lost out. Flashy clothes and a different role are definitely challenging but the packaging was too down market for someone of your stature. The producers should have worked on it to ensure that the communication was classy. Because at the end of BHTB one actually says – Not bad yaar. BHTB is Tacky, reeks of south Indian direction that is average at best, stunts are too obviously worked upon, most of the cast looks insipid and pale when the Big B is sharing screen space with them (except for Hema Malini who looks stunning and confident), music that is just about ok and has very few good moments – but still one feels quite satisfied at the end of the day simply because the Big B completely takes away the role into his stride and delivers a performance that is quite commendable – not amongst his very best or anyways superlative but definitely commendable. He is not supported by anyone else in the movie except for the villainous Prakash Raj who seems to be quite good at his job. Sonu Sood is also just about OK. The women in the movie other than Hema Malini are a combination of an absolutely gorgeous piece of furniture called Sonal Chauhan (stunningly gorgeous to say the least), her best friend Amrita played by the most irritating piece of overacting material you can find in Bollywood called Charmy and Amrita’s mother played by Raveena Tandon whose item number was deleted in the version that I saw in PVR Goregaon.

BHTB is by no means the Big B’s best piece of work. But it is definitely entertaining and worth spending time and some money on. It is as good as if not better than Murder 2. A solid entertainer – but do keep your brains to the side before you get here. The story will hold you to the screen but the execution may make you tear your hair apart. I give this a 5 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeD7VCzB9g4

Sister Act 2 : Back in the Habit

We are in the season of sequels and it was only obvious that when Sister Act was playing on Star Movies, the next movie that followed was Sister Act 2 : Back in the Habit. A back to back exhibition of classic acting and comic timing from a class actress – one of the few ladies who have a natural flair for comedy and ace their part of the deal every single time that they come on it. But this time around it is directed by Bill Duke – who would probably be best known for his roles as an actor and not the ones behind the camera. Remember the guy who plays Mac in the Arnie starrer Predator? The big African American guy? If not then maybe you would remember the guy Cooke from Commando? Well it would seem that he is a director as well. Well whaddya know!!!! He has about 5-7 full length features to date but a bulk of his work behind the camera has come from Television and you can add his name to the long list of people who probably haven’t made the transition quite well from small screen to big screen – especially as directors. Duke probably got his chance with Sister Act 2 thanks to Emile Ardolino (the director of Sister Act 1) kicking the bucket sometime in 1993 (the year of its release). Guess he got a bit lucky i.e. Duke.
This time around, Deloris Van Cartier or should we say Sister Mary Clarence (Whoopi Goldberg) is not running away from anyone or anything. She is just basking in her success as the nun who got a gangster into jail and then made it big as a show singer in Vegas. She is now immensely successful and well written about. So money is no longer a problem. But the sisters want her back. They want her to come back with them to a school that they have started and pay back to society by teaching music. They want to use Deloris’s excellent capabilities to rally people around her in the noble profession of teaching bright but extremely rowdy children in a school that is probably going to be shut really really soon. Reluctantly Deloris agrees to don the habit once again. Needless to say, it’s a roller coaster of sorts after that happens.

Sister Act 2 however doesn’t manage to recreate the magic that the first part does so very well. Whether it was due to change of director or a story line that was OK or because it released the very next year of the first part releasing one can never tell but it may just about be a combination of all of these points. Sister Act 2 marks the debut of a couple of stars in Hollywood - Lauryn Hill & Jennifer Love Hewitt both of whom go on to be reasonably successful in tinsel town. The fun moments are however quite limited this time around. Which is probably the reason it gets a rating that is a tad lower that the first part. 5.5 on 10 from my side.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k80E5KTjvmA

Sister Act

There are superstars and then there are superstars. And Whoopi Goldberg would probably fall into a category called Super Duper Whooper Stars. So when I had the opportunity of watching Sister Act last Sunday (on Star Movies) I wasn’t going to give up the opportunity at all. Now Sister Act is not one of the best movies ever made by mankind I can assure you. It is directed by Emile Ardolino whose claim to fame is the evergreen Dirty Dancing and some RomComs such as Chances Are. I mean there is really nothing much to write home about in the movies that he has given us (except Dirty Dancing). But all of them, if you notice closely have this classic charm about them which make them watchable any given time of the day. As a movie, Sister Act is barely there in a manner of speaking. Which would explain the imdb rating of 5.9 on 10 and the rating that I would give it would be around the same (only that I would round it off to a 6 because I don’t complicate my ratings with the decimal points other than 0.5). But it is not debatable that Sister Act is entertaining, fun, evergreen and a definite watch for anyone – must see it if you haven’t done so yet.

Deloris Van Cartier (Whoopi Goldberg) is a bar singer who doesn’t have much of a fan following. Now she is in love with the local gangster Vince LaRocca (Harvey Kietel) who is married and is basically using Deloris as his mistress more than anything else. Deloris knows this but doesn’t do much because she needs the income. But when her repeated pleas go unheeded she decides to storm into Vince’s office and demand her pound of flesh. Unfortunately, she also walks into a situation where Vince has killed someone – just part of his job as a gangster. Now Deloris is aware of Vince’s legal status but seeing someone killed in front of her is something that she doesn’t quite know how to handle. She does manage to however run away from the scene and goes straight to the cops where a Detective Lt. Eddie Souther (Bill Nunn) offers her police protection and in return expects Deloris to take to the witness stand against LeRocca, an offer that Deloris reluctantly accepts. The way Lt. Souther expects to keep her protected is to put her in a place where no one expects someone like her to be. Inside a church. And that too as a nun. Deloris Van Cartier is now Sister Mary Clarence for the rest of the movie.

Sister Act is almost a laugh every 5 minutes kind of a riot with Goldberg leading from the front with an absolutely fabulous performance – something that u expect her to deliver at the bare minimum. The direction as explained earlier is just about average but good enough to carry out a concept like this. The support cast has a couple of good efforts from Kathy Najimy and Wendy Makkena who will also feature in the sequel to this one and rightfully so. Playing this whole month on Star Movies, watch Sister Act to kind of re-live an old classic that quite a few of us would have seen while growing up. As mentioned earlier my rating is a 6 on 10. But it is also a Must watch in its own right.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3162702105/

Delhi Belly

I was quite apprehensive about Delhi Belly and was in the same breath quite disappointed because I could not watch the movie till this morning. I was just hoping it was not yet another case of the trailer being better than the movie – like it has been quite often in the recent past. However, turns out this time it was not the case. I guess it had to be a case of “In Aamir Khan we trust”. Although I am not sure if Aamir would be saying, “In Imran Khan I trust” for too long if the nephew keeps at his mediocre levels of improvement and singular dead pan surprised expression for too long. One begins to feel a bit sad about it after a while because there does seem to be a lot of effort or sincerity in Imran Khan’s approach to acting. Add to that his chocolate boy looks. But over generations I guess the expressions reduce. Aamir does a brilliant job with 5 expressions. Imran has only one. Seriously Imran dear – I like you for your sincerity and the fact that u seem like a really clean guy which is not too common in the industry – but seriously you need to start acting… really well and really soon before the public sticks to liking you only for your looks and good behavior.

Delhi Belly is marks the 2nd movie of director Abhinay Deo who not too long ago released his first movie – Game. How lucky can one get I say. 2 movies in 3 months of each other!!! That’s really lucky!!! And whats better – the first one was a directing disaster and my has Abhinay Deo made a turn around or what? Delhi Belly is compact, with very little nonsense and one with is cut really well. It is indeed shocking that Game was such a disaster on all counts. So I guess Abhinay dear has redeemed itself. Yes, Delhi Belly could have been finished a tad better than the final product. That Deo had the services of Kunaal Roy Kapur, Vir Das, Vijay Raaz and Poorna Jagannathan… let me catch me breath here……………….. and I was saying – Poorna Jagannathan who is probably the best face to hit Bollywood this year – just made his job a hell of a lot easier. Right from the first shot as Meneka, a visiting journalist who is assigned to Tashi Dorjee Lahtoo (Khan) to interview a bimbo singer, Poorna stamps her authority on screen. So yes, here is a hottie who can act as well. And yes people – she can kiss for sure. Probably the most comfortably that I have seen anyone on screen in a Bollywood movie. And yes… did I mention that she is HOT!!!! She is Tunisian – I mean how much more exotic can it really get. And another warning – DO NOT LOOK INTO THOSE EYES!!! They will captivate you and cast a spell out of which there will be no getting out – period!!! And for the first time since I started using a desktop I have on my wall paper an actress who starred in a Bollywood movie – I am officially in love *sheepish smile*

I liked Delhi Belly. It is fast, pacy, funny in parts, outrageously slapstick in parts, “bimbo”ish in parts (read Shenaz Treasurywala and Anusha Dandekar), young, energetic, brave, short and to the point. The music from Ram Sampath is excellent and the fact that is used as a background score makes it even better. Watch it for sure. U will not regret it and if you do get bored then keep looking out for Poorna coz she is never too far away from any scene. *sigh* 7 on 10 folks – 25 on 10 for Poorna for sure *sighs again*

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcKn9BxTg1A

The Resident

Cinema houses should actually start watching movies before they classify them under a specific genre. With a truck load of confidence they classified the Hilary Swank – Jeffrey Dean Morgan starrer The Resident as HORROR. 10 minutes into the movie, you are quite excited since the aura or mystery around the entire concept of the house is building up slowly but steadily. 20 minutes in and you are still rooted to the screen thanks to some great camera work and some brilliant use of sound as well as light by Finnish director Antti Jokinen who seems to be a great find – has done quite a good job for his first English movie (his previous works were some random science fiction pieces, short videos and TV documentaries all of them probably for TV Finland or something). 30 minutes into the movie, you start wondering when the alleged horror is about to start. Another 10 minutes and you are quite convinced that there is something missing out here and that there is no horror. 50 minutes in and you want to scream out, “Paisa Wapas”!!!! (I want my money back). At the end of the hour you are quite certain that this is not horror flick by a country mile. It is a random sex offender thriller which involves the so called villain watching the heroine through peep holes and one way mirrors and making out with her in the night when he has drugged her enough. What starts off quite promisingly completely loses steam mid way through and of course leaves you with a feeling of a wasted 2 hours.

Juliet Devereau (Hilary Swank) is a nurse at a local hospital. A complete workaholic, she finds her boyfriend Jack (Lee Pace) in bed with another woman – in THEIR bed!!!! Like most sensible women she walks out of the relationship (although you would be surprised at the number of women who are willing to accept their partners cheating on them) and starts her search for a new place to live in. But with her kind of budget in New York City, one can get a pigeon hole at best. So she goes from pigeon hole to pigeon hole till she finally finds a place which is ….. hello…. As good as a mansion – it is a bit away from the city and has the railroad running close by and some signal problems but for the price that is being asked it is a steal to say the least. It is owned by an extremely good looking young landlord, Max (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his grandfather August (Christopher Lee). The place has a very eerie feel to it but Juliet lets her desperation get the better of her and takes the place. Needless to say, there is a spark that builds into a fire between Juliet and Max. But will Jack be too thrilled about it?

As the risk of repeating myself – great start but doesn’t sustain the momentum. Antti could have done a much better job. Swank and Morgan come up with significantly below par performances. Disappointing overall. 5 on 10 at best. Actually missable.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi4101347865/

Cars 2

It was Pixar’s 20th Anniversary in 2006 when they made Cars. And while there may have been several other movies that Pixar could have chosen to make a sequel to, Cars 2 would have been as good a tribute as any other to Pixar’s existence. Yes Toy Story 3 could have been released a year later to commemorate the silver jubilee of Pixar (coz that’s what started it all) but then the magic of Cars is still up there. And Cars 2 doesn’t disappoint you one bit. Through the two hours that you would spend in the movie hall for this one, you would be reminded about the older characters which were so clearly sketched in the first edition of this superb franchise (buy it on DVD if you haven’t seen it yet) and you would also add a few more beautiful and memorable characters to a list that you would remember ever so fondly for the rest of your life. Kids, teenagers, tweenagers, or the older ones would all love Cars 2 in the same way.

One had to wait for a long time to see Cars 2 – something that I wasn’t too sure about after Cars 1 because they hadn’t really left it open ended enough to have one – but John Lasseter (who also gave us Cars) continues to spin the magic that he started off 5 years back. This time around the story revolves around a magic green fuel called Allinoil invented by the great Sir Miles Axelrod (Eddy Izzard) who is not only an adventurer but also one of the richest men – oops cars – in the world. To promote Allinoil, Sir Axelrod, organizes the race of all races – across 3 race tracks which would test the best race cars from all across the world. With race tracks that combine the best conditions for a variety of cars, Formula 1, Rally Cars and of course Indi Cars. Our hero Lightning decides to opt out but with the right instigation from the famous F1 Car Francesco Bernoulli (John Turturro) he decides to take the challenge on. However, there is something fishy going on which gets 2 characters into the fray – Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) and Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer) – 2 secret agents who are onto something here. And when cars start blowing up they know that something is not right about this race.

Lasseter continues with what he is great at – character detailing. He leaves very little to imagination and covers as many traits of the characters as possible in the short time available. He continues to be aided by great casting – Caine is slick as McMissile and Mortimer is equally good as Shiftwell. The other voice overs continue to be the same as the first part with Larry the Cable Guy as Mator is outstanding!!! While the message in the previous edition was mainly about humility, this one is mainly about valuing friendships – a trait in Pixar animation that I truly admire. It is essential for movies to carry a message – even more so with animation cause we influence the younger ones even more. Although Cars 2 is for young and old alike. I give this an 8.5 on 10 yet again. Loved it completely!!!! This years academy awards line up is ready – Cars 2, Kung Fu Panda and Rango. No one else comes close.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1822465049/