Robocop (2014)

Let’s face it.  Remakes are going to be part of our lives.  Organisations have rights to the movies and they are bound to maximize the opportunity.  After all, the fact that a movie is being remade is proof that it was good in the first place.  I for one, have been a huge fan of remakes.  The secret, I have found, albeit a very difficult one, is to try and purge your mind of any memories of the original.

She's Out of My League

There are movies that you watch because they ought to be watched. There are movies that you avoid because they ought to be avoided. And then there are movies that you watch because there is nothing better to do in life. Sitting @ home in Goa with no one around weekend before last, I had to kill time for about 30-40 minutes because Pizza was on its way and Juhi & Ashley (my friends in Goa) were out for some work. The couch potato (and u must see me these days – I look like a potato only) that I am, channel surfing took me to “She’s Out of My League” (SOML). Those who read my blog would know that I am a sucker for chick flicks. But what really got me to watch this movie was that I switched it on at just the right time – When the stunning Alice Eve makes her entry at the airport and heads turn. Jokes apart – I actually sat up and stared. Now here was a stunning beauty to say the least who had just walked into screen and I was so hoping that she doesn’t say something stupid and ruin the entire moment. Thankfully she did not. And therefore, I was resigned to watch SOML for the next 90 mins or so much to the chagrin of my hosts – my sincerest of apologies to Juhi and Ashley who are probably the nicest hosts to have tolerated my whim to watch such a lousy movie.

Because after that moment of Alice Eve’s entry, it is perfectly downhill. Kirk Kettner (Jay Baruchel - The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Tropic Thunder) is your average everyday boy next door (read LOSER). He typically spends his time with 3 of his friends who are also boy next doors (read LOSERs). Stainer (T.J. Miller), Jack (Mike Vogel) & Devon (Nate Torrence) are Kirk’s closest buddies – Chaddi Buddies type. They are your lower middle class folks for whom, getting a job is good enough. Now Kirk has the hots for Marnie (Lindsay Sloane) but she has dumped him 2 years back. The trouble is she continues to stay in his face coz Kirk’s parents think the world of her and Kirk’s elder brother and Marnie’s current are good friends. No one would have expected Kirk to get anywhere in life. That he had a job as an Airport Security person, was good enough. But that’s what gets Kirk to meet Molly (Alice Eve) and love happens along with some really bad slapstick American so called comedy.

Watch SOML only if you are suckers for punishment. If you believe American Pie was a 10 on 10 then SOML would be right up your alley. Anything lower than that and you have a problem on your hands. I am sure there is a separate genre for these kind of movies and I am quite certain that director Jim Field Smith is an expert of sort in this genre of movie making. In his first full length feature, Smith doesn’t quite leave much of a mark honestly. But I guess there is a market for crappy movies and he was just making the most of it. Why blame him. The only way you can sustain SOML is to fast forward to every scene that has Alice Eve in it – and there are lots. She is confident and awesome looking to boot. A tad short but who cares when you have a 10 on 10 otherwise. Avoid the movie like the plague cos it is playing on one of the movie channels. 3 on 10. Everything because of Alice Eve’s looks.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi870384665/

The Sorcerers Apprentice

Veronica (Belluci), Balthazar (Cage) and Horvath (Molina) are the 3 closest aides of Merlin the lord of all Magicians way back in 740 AD. Merlin’s sworn enemy is Morgana who is the lord of the dead. Horvath betrays Merlin and joins hands with Morgana. Merlin dies but in the attempt to protect Balthazar, Veronica casts a spell through which she consumes Morgana into her mortal self and Balthazar in turn traps both of them in a Grimhold – a doll that looks like those Matryoshka Russian 9 in one dolls  takes u back to your childhood. Balthazar also traps Horvath in one of those. Before he dies, Merlin hands over his ring, a dragon, to Balthazar. The ring will find its true owner who would be the Prime Merlinian (true descendant of Merlin). It is only the Prime Merlinian who can eliminate Morgana.


The story then moves to Y2K in NY where David, all of 10 years, is totally smitten by Becky, his class mate. On a school trip he gives Becky a note in which he asks her whether she would like to be his friend or girlfriend. Now, Becky does write the answer down but the wind blows it half way across the block to an antique store called Arcana Cabana. No points for guessing who runs the place – our long lost friend Balthazar . Balthazar senses that this is no coincidence and shows David the dragon ring which quickly crawls onto his palm and wraps itself around the finger of its rightful owner. But, David does not heed to the warning given by Balthazar of not touching anything and inadvertently frees Horvath from his Grimhold. A fight ensues between Balthazar and Horvath resulting in both of them getting trapped inside a 10th century Ming vase inside which they spend the next 10 years. David on the other hand gets out of the store and is ridiculed by his classmates coz they think he has lost it.

In the meantime, David (Jay Baruchel) has grown up to being a 20 year old Physics geek. And he bumps into his classmate – no points for guessing again – Becky (Teresa Palmer). The Ming Vase has found its way into a Russian household in NY and our hero and villain reappear and continue their search for David. Horvath finds David but is unable to locate the Grimhold coz even David does not know where it is. Balthazar arrives just in time to save David and uses his Grimhold Tracking Device ( yes everything is possible in a fantasy) to find out where the Grimhold is.

David agrees to helping Balthazar and his training begins. Parallely a relationship with Becky also develops which Balthazar is quite wary of. Horvath in the meantime has also found an apprentice of his own, Drake Stone.

The Sorcerers Apprentice takes you through a phenomenal fantasy world of what sorcery could do. Plasma Bolts, Fire Bolts, Hungarian Mirror Traps, Reverse World, Persian Quick Rugs et al. The graphics and special effects are very well done. One does not expect anything less from a Disney Production. John Turtletaub uses all his experience from his previous 2 Disney Block Busters – National Treasure and National Treasure –Book of Secrets and his 9 other movies as director to give us a nicely finished fantasy. One which does justice to the Disney brand association.

Nicholas Cage is his usual confused self. I have never quite managed to figure out how he made it this big. I am sure people love the fact that he is confused. Yet to see a movie in which he has not looked as if he didn’t know what hit him. But consistency does deserve points I guess. Monica Belluci in her 3 minutes of screen time looks luscious as ever. I wonder how these nearly 50 year olds manage to look so hot. Jay Baruchel will be loved by most of the girls who watch this movie coz he does look true to the definition of cute – ugly but tolerable. Teresa Palmer is probably just furniture. But the pick of the lot is one of my favouritest and versatile actors of all time. Alfred Molina. What cant Molina portray is a question that I have always asked myself. I keep coming up with the same answer – Molina can play any role that you give him. Versatality is probably his middle name. Although the kids would not like Horvath but when they grow up to understand the finer nuances of acting, Molina will be up there in their books. Truly a super star!!!!

All in all, The Sorcerers Apprentice is a wonderful treat for the family. It is definitely not the best movie ever made by Disney but is worth a dekko for sure but then Disney’s average movies are far superior to any other in their genre or otherwise. I give it 5 on 10.