John Wick

John Wick had me hooked in the first 5 minutes.  The rest of the movie was a simple process of reeling me in – and it was probably the easiest job in the world for two debutante directors – David Leitch & Chad Stahelski.  Their repertoire was restricted to designing and directing the stunts for some really big movies such as Speed Racer and Tron Legacy.

Walking with Dinosaurs 3D

So my good friend and soon to be collaborator Srinath Bharadwaj posted his views on Walking With Dinosaurs a little over 12 hours back and I threw back my head to say, “He’s a new kid.  He is obviously over excited about a Dinosaur movie.  It will be yet another dinosaur tale with all sorts of corny puns that leave you a tad exasperated but with good effects”.  In fact I had already written my summary line on that thought.

Kick Ass 2

3 years back we saw Nicholas Cage playing the role of what I can only describe as “civilian superhero”.  Big Daddy passed on and left the mantle of protecting the city with his daughter Hit Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) and protégé (in a manner of speaking) – Kick Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).  Well, the two have now gotten into their teens but the job of protecting the city has kind of taken a back seat.

Ice Age 4 Continental Drift

The biggest problem with blogger is the limitation of character tags. So when you have a movie like Ice Age 4 Continental Drift which has 36 people doing voice overs of as many characters, one can pick up only 10 to be called out in the tag list. It is just too unfair that this post will not be revealed in a search for the role Nicki Minaj or Rebel Wilson or Kunal Nayyar played in a movie that was an outright laugh riot from the time Scrat the Sabre Toothed Squirrel (Chris Wedge) comes into frame one searching for a place to hide is notorious acorn.

Our family – which has grown since the first edition of this phenomenal franchise – of Manny the Woolly Mammoth (Ray Romano), Ellie the Mammoth wife (Queen Latifah), Peaches the baby Mammoth (Keke Palmer) Sid the Ground Sloth (John Leguizamo – and I have always been in awe of this man’s talent in terms of voice overs) and Diego the Smilodon (Denis Leary) have settled down peacefully. However, their peace is about to be disturbed thanks to Scrat, who has managed to create the entire concept of the Continental Drift just by shoving his acorn in the wrong place.

A sudden movement of plates causes the land mass to move gradually and eat away into the home of our family who along with the other species start their trudge towards the land bridge – which is the only way to get across to safety. All of this only after a massive quake traps our heroes onto a berg of ice and cracks it away from the mainland. Over the din, Manny promises – as always – to come back to save his family. But to do that he has to fight the crew of Captain Gutt the Gigantopithecus (Peter Dinklage) – a high sea pirate who rules the unknown waters – and his right hand woman Shira the Smilodon (Jennifer Lopez).

Superb characterization and great voice over has been the highlight of all Ice Age editions to date. A franchise that has improved over the past decade like very few others can claim. Probably one of the few movies where the sequels are as good as the first part if not better. Continental Drift is not different. In fact the 3D quality is actually one of the better ones in recent times.

The competiton for Uncle Oscar in the category has thrown up 3 clear leaders. As of now, very difficult to choose between Ice Age, Madagascar and Brave. I strongly believe Brave is leading the charts as of now. We will know for sure in about 6 months. In the meantime it is a 7.5 on 10 for Ice Age. Watch it for certain.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2524815897/

Lincoln Lawyer

The term smooth operator is personified by Defense Attorney Mickey Haller (Matthew McConaughey). He is suave, smart and thinks on his feet. He knows the tricks of the trade like very few others. And did I mention that he is a superb negotiator – knows fully well that most cases are actually decided, won or lost outside the courtroom and not inside. He can well make it to the big league but for reasons best known to him, he has played ball only at the lower levels to date. He is divorced but on extremely good terms with his ex-wife Maggie McPherson (Marisa Tomei). They have a daughter who the two love very dearly. And he has his contacts – thanks to most criminals who he helps get out of jail. He trusts very few people – occupational hazard. But one of those he trusts is his right hand man Frank Levin (William H Macy). The latest addition to his life is Earl (Laurence Mason), who drives him around in his Lincoln – aah now I know why the movie is called Lincoln Lawyer.


Mickey’s talent (for lack of any other word) finally lands him into a big league case when his contact, bail agent Val Valenzuela (John Leguizamo) puts him through to a wealthy real estate agent Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe). Louis has been charged with assault and attempted murder of a prostitute who picks him up at a bar. Louis claims that she is only trying to fleece him off his money and that he is falsely accused. Louis’ mother is also willing spare no expense in getting her son out of the case. Sensing that it’s a great opportunity to rake in the moolah, Mickey takes up the case. Louis’ is convincing enough and is not even willing to arrive at an out of court settlement. He wants the case to go to trial and prove a point of some sort. Bail is set @ $1 million and Mickey begins building his case.

Lincoln Lawyer is young director Brad Furman’s second movie to date. And with the exception of a couple of cuts which he could have done with, it is a well made movie. He builds up the tension throughout the movie very well – leading upto a good solid climax. We definitely have a solid prospect here. Ryan Phillippe is eerie in his portrayal of Louis Roulet. I only fear that he will soon be typecast into the “ice cold person role” that he keeps getting himself into. There is very little else that he does. Maybe it’s a personal fetish that we aren’t aware of. Minus the drawl, Matthew McConaughey continues be the correct choice for roles that demand sheer good looks with just enough acting capabilities to make it through. I could not quite understand the reason for having a superb talent like Marisa Tomei and barely getting anything out of her but for a few minutes of screen time. Could have done with a meatier role. That was probably the only flaw other than a couple of cuts as mentioned earlier. Definitely a dekko. 6.5 on 10 from my side.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1627364121/