Zokkomon

He is here!!! India's first "young" super hero. He is 4 ft tall, all of 10 years old (probably) and uses the marvels of science that Magic Uncle (Anupam Kher) dishes out to him that make him fly and levitate in a cloud of smoke and disappear within the blink of an eye into the same cloud of smoke. He throws paint / ink balls at the enemies of society (children in particular) and also sends a pair of boomerangs flying through the air as and when required (with no proof of their coming back ... er did I burst someone's bubble). He wears red and black and also an eye band of sorts that defines his persona and makes his eyes glow orange (like a fire) in the dark. He is not your regular superhero. He is a phenomenon. He is the hope that lives inside the heart of every child. He is the manifestation of what every oppressed child in the world wants to be. He is Kunal aka ZOKKOMON!!!


Kunal has been wronged not only by his blood relatives but also by God who snatched away his parents at a tender age leaving him in a boarding school where he is well taken care of but doesn't have a family anymore. His chacha (paternal uncle) goes by the name of Deshraj (Anupam Kher) - a slimy old man who wears wig and spends most of his time pocketing money from various government grants for his school. Deshraj is also his sole gaurdian currently and decides all of a sudden that Kunal cannot study in boarding school but must do so @ his village Jhunjhunmakastama. A village of the living dead of sorts - people who apparently are alive but live under the morbid fear of the local god man and a bhoot bangla (ghost house). They are superstitious to the core - a fact which is only fuelled further by Deshraj through the Dhongi Baba (god man). Deshraj goes to the extent of "losing" Kunal @ Esselworld and then pronouncing his dead so as to claim the 75 lacs that Kunal would get rightfully when he turns 18. However, Kunal makes his way back to the village with some help from Kitto Didi (Manjari Fadnis) only to find himself back @ the Bhoot Bangla where he meets famed scientist Vivek Rai aka Magic Uncle. Together they decide to take on Deshraj and his cronies and ensure that they put an end to the pain that the kids are going through.

What is disappointing about Zokkomon is that Disney hasn't paid any attention to detail like it normally would. Just because its a Bollywood movie doesn't warrant you exposing Darsheel Safary's complete lack of basketball playing skills. I mean he makes SRK and Rani Mukherjee look good (GAWD!!!) at the game. First time director Satyajit Bhatkal doesn't leave much of a mark and one can only hope that he gets better with experience. But he is definitely made to look good by the entire cast which has given a solid effort. Notable performances would include child artistes Gargi & Jai Vyas who play Kunal's friends in the village with a name that can barely be remembered. Manjari Fadnis is at her bubbly best and a tad over the top as always. That she is pretty makes up for her lack of acting talent. Disney has smartly left enough open for a sequel/s but will need to put more effort in the finishing department to come up with a good movie. This one is a 5 on 10 in my books. A definite hit with the kids though. Parents beware - Zokkomon will very soon burn a hole in ur pockets just like he did with Deshraj's pants. Loads of revenue forecasted for Disney through merchandise. Cheerios friends till the next time.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1491311897/

The Roommate

Why is it that most movies made about psychological or mental disorders, invariably portray the person with the problem as a monster? I would have guessed it is common sensical that here is someone who has an illness which is meant to be looked at with empathy and needs to be helped - not in a "because s/he cannot help herself" way - but in a more "supportive / understanding / looked out for" kind of way. With a medium like the movies, one has an opportunity of really really going out there and making a difference to the perceptions that surround people who have to go through first hand experiences with the likes of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders. Yet, time after time and movie after movie, all we see is that they are subject to more and even more ridicule. As people who one should be wary of. Like animals who are unpredictable and may strike anytime. Like Jason or Freddy. Like ur mum would say, "Don't talk to them - they are schizophrenic". Sometimes I wonder if we have ever reached the 21st century. It used to be this way centuries back and continues to be looked upon as a stigma. We have learnt to deal with AIDS and Leprosy. But when it comes to mental disorders, I would not be wrong if I were to say that the human race is still in the stone age - probably even earlier.


Shockingly, the censor board, whose basic responsibility is to look at far more deep rooted social worries like these, prefers to court controversy over the extent of "mammaries" on display or the next kissing scene that needs to be cut. Isn't it time that they changed their approach, just that little bit? If they had, movies such as The Roommate would have never seen the light of day. The last time I remember that a movie was in the right direction with respect to schizophrenia - Karthik Calling Karthik. And before the tongues begin to wag, it has nothing to do with my name (which coincidentally is without the H). Personally, I thought that he movie was a disaster. But it ended on a positive note with an attempt made to cure and not to crucify or kill. Thank God for small mercies. I can only hope that more movies would address the topic with the sensitivity that it deserves. But then again, our intrinsic capability to digest gore and look down upon people with problems never ceases to surprise me. How else wud one explain the success of a lousy movie like "Scream 4'??? Sigh!!! :S

OK now - enough of the sermon. Coming to the movie under consideration, it revolves around a certain Rebecca (Leighton Meester) who comes into ULA - The University of Los Angeles I am assuming. She is surprisingly without a friend - not too many tweenagers who are friendless on facebook these days right? She is sharing her room with Sarah Matthews (Minka Kelly) who was also trying to get thru to Brown University with her boyfriend Jason but both couldn't make it. So they decided to take up ULA. At the last minute though Jason made it to Brown and being a prick, quickly dumps Sara and moves on. That doesn't stop him from calling her repeatedly to apologise and get her back though!!! Sara, is very clearly over him and doesn't take time to move on and hook up with new meat - Stephen (Cam Gigandet). She also makes friends with Tracy Morgan (Alyson Michalka) a flirtatious hot girl who is in the same frat as Sara and with Tracy's roommate Kim. They trio of girls seem to be getting along very well, much to the disgust of Rebecca who wants to keep Sara all to herself and continuously does things to ensure Sara spends more time with her than anyone else. Including threatening Tracy in the shower ala Psycho. She also gets a prof expelled for misbehaving with Sara and kills an innocent kitten which could have caused Sara to move out of her room. Rebecca is The Roommate.

For a long period, the movie seems to be drifting along without much happening. Christian E Christiansen, the director, was probably attempting to build up the tempo slowly but surely and then explode it onto your face. He kind of comes a cropper unfortunately. The attempt falls woefully short of creating any excitement. There are bits and pieces of scenes which are a bit shocking like when Rebecca decides to pierce her ears with the ear rings that Sara asks her to wear because she doesn't want to disappoint her. The Psycho type scene in the shower also borders on creating some fear but again goes bust like a "fuski bomb". The script is just too uninspiring to merit any mention. Yet another one like "I know what u did...." or "Urban Legend" only much less thrilling and boring to boot. The saving grace - some decent music in the background and some really good looking specimens of humanity as the cast. Otherwise imminently forgettable. Definitely missable even on DVD. OK here's the big insult - Dum Maro Dum is better. 3 on 10 from my side.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2783643929/

Dum Maro Dum

That Abhishek Bachchan will live in the shadow of Yuva for the rest of his life and continue to try and benchmark himself to that level is a foregone conculsion in any of his movies. But to his credit this time around, he does give you some glimpses of the intensity that he showed in his best performance to date. Hope Floats for all your fans of the Jr. B (count me out of that list for the time being). After Game I thought it was all over folks. It was definitely time to get the fat lady in.

What makes his performance look better than what it actually is the sheer presence of John Abraham’s ex who has this innate capability of making anyone look better on screen. If there was a plastic meter for performances on screen then Bipasha Basu would have scored 12 on 10. And then you also wonder what Rohan Sippy was thinking when he cast Aditya Panscholi. Definitely a case of the ex Mr. Zareena Wahab (whats with these exes?) having put in money into the production.

And then there is rest of the cast led by Tollywood hero Rana Daggubatti who manages to hold his own in his Bollywood debut. Pratiek (without the Babbar) is sincere, but as always seems to have tried really hard to make things look as real has he possibly can. The saving grace in the acting department is however the natural, ice cold performance from Govind Namdeo who comes out on tops once again.

Dum Maro Dum revolves around the elusive Michael Barbossa aka Vincent Vega aka Colin Coutinhon aka Tobby Follet who is the savior of the drug mafia in Goa. Whenever the narcotics business in Goa starts to take a beating, Barbossa or one of his avatars comes in to save business which is primarily led by Lorsa Biscuita (Aditya Panscholi). But Barbossa’s days are about to be numbered when the Home Minster Ponda (Bugs Bharagava) calls on ex-cop ACP Vishnu Kamat (Jr. B) to clean up the state. In his previous assignments related to narcotics, ACP Kamat was notorious for maximizing his personal wealth. But he loses it when his family dies in a car crash. Poetic justice because the drivers of the other car were high on drugs. He picks his own team – Rane (Govind Namdeo) and Mercy (Gulshan Devaiya) to help him. His first breakthrough happens when he manages to foil Lawrence Eduardo Gomes aka Lorry (Pratiek) who is forced to become a carrier to pay his fees for a US University. All poor Lorry wanted to do was to be with his girl, Tani (Anaitha Nair) who gets through to the same uni with a 100% scholarship. Lorry’s close friend Joaquim aka DJ Joki (Rana) tries to convince him to come clean and even manages to strike a deal with ACP Kamath but Lorry chickens out and Joki’s only chance to get back @ Biscuita goes abegging. You see Biscuita has stolen Joki’s girl i.e. Zoe (Bipasha Basu) in the same manner as Lorry manages to get himself into jail. All these characters try to solve the big mystery – Who is Barbossa???

Poorly written dialogues are the bane of DMD which could have been a much better movie than it turned out. Lines such as “Moscow ke DJ tyaon tyaon aur pussycats meow meow. Live FTV no censor” and “Barbossa ka pata chahiye. Baaki sab ke liye google hai” and “MC ya BC? Middle Class ya Business Class”. I mean what was Rohan Sippy thinking? He didn’t have Rajanikant to carry these lines off right? Pritam’s music continues to be heavily and now obviously “inspired” and inspid. Rohan Sippy still tries his best to keep the movie racy enough for you not to get bored. Would have expected better coz this one doesn’t come upto the previous mark he set with Bluff Master. The random use of Konkani words fall flat. As a good friend says, “That’s the magic of it all. You aren’t Goan till you are Goin man”. Overall a below average effort. 4 on 10 is my final verdict. Was tempted to give it a point more but nah. Not happening.

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2560597273/

Teen Thay Bhai

Teen Thay Bhai marks the debut of two people onto the big screen. The first is Mrigdeep Singh Lamba who makes his entry as a director. The other is the super star of the idiot box, Govinda’s niece - Ragini Khanna (Bhaskar Bharti / Sasural Genda Phool). When ROMP would have looked at the resume of this Assistant Director of hits like Don, misses like Yuvraaj and would have said to himself that this dude seems to be a decent bet. But I would also hazard a guess that ROMP has not kept himself as part of this production venture and has allowed Lamba to take as many liberties as he wanted. The resultant movie is one that seems significantly over the top, peppered with slapstick humour and a mish mash of sorts. And during the entire sham you are left wondering what 2 class actors who usually go by the names of Om Puri and Deepak Dobriyal are doing on screen.


The story primary revolves around 3 brothers who can barely look at each other or listen to the other’s voice, leave along staying under the same roof for a few minutes. The Gill family has been bought up by their Dadaji (Yograj Singh) who like any traditional Punjabi from the village is passionate about his land and doesn’t want to sell it off to anyone and brushes off a prospective buyer much to the disappointment of his eldest grandson Shikharjeet aka Chixie. So when Chixie decides to se. ll of his portion of the land, he gets a dose of “Tu apni maa to bech aaya”!!! (you have sold off your mother – when loosely translated coz these villagers treat their land like their mothers). Chixie thinks he has had enough and walks out of home to try and make something out of his life. A few decades later Chixie (Om Puri) finds himself married to a nag and the father of three extremely large sized daughters who are not able to find any suitable grooms. Most of them run away on sight. Chixie’s younger brother Harpreet aka Happy Gill (Deepak Dobriyal) is a dentist whose diagnosis of every single problem is “Shifting Pain”. The youngest, Fancy (Shreyas Talpade) is passionate about riding, acting and his brown Pomeranian Shanky and is absolutely good for nothing. Their gory lives are turned better when Dadaji passes away and leaves them a fortune of sorts. But to earn the fortune, they have to spend 3 days every year for the next 3 years under the same roof. Quite a challenge for these nitwits.

Other than Om Puri and Deepak Dobriyal who make the script look better than it actually is, there is not much to look forward to in TTB. Ragini Khanna is refreshing and can probably give Anushka Sharma a run for her money for the best smile in Bollywood but that’s about where it ends. Too small a role for me to make any judgement about her acting skills and I would be unfair if I didn’t say there was some potential there. Rounding off the acting department with the biggest misfit in this movie – Shreyas Talpade who cannot speak Punjabi to save his life and has done his capabilities a lot of damage with this movie. He is much better than what you see in TTB. Should make some better choices in the future. Overall TTB, as mentioned earlier doesn’t have too much of direction, script or editing. Could have done with a truck load of cuts. Vastly disappointing. 4 on 10 thanks to some acting from Om Puri and Dobriyal. Coimpletely forgettable other than that.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd6XG8ZO5UI

Unknown

I have been, and I am sure I speak for most of us out here, waiting for a movie that packs in a punch from the start to finish. We have been starved of anything remotely close to the action adventures that we are used to. The last good action movie I remember seeing also starred someone that I have never associated as an action star but has proven most of us wrong with some scintillating performances in the recent past. Last year, he starred as Col. John “Hannibal” Smith the leader of the rebel pack called as the A Team. And he has also taken up aggressive roles such as that of a desperate father Bryan Mills who is in search of his daughter in Taken. The nearly sixty year old, six and a half feet tall Liam Neeson, puts up yet another action packed performance in the role of Dr. Martin Harris in Unknown.


Mrs. Elizabeth Harris (January Jones) and Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) are from New Hampshire USA. They have just landed into Berlin for a Bio Technology Conference. Martin has been in conversation with Dr. Bressler (Sebastian Koch) for over 6 months now. Dr. Bressler has been in discussions with the Prince Shada (Mido Hamada) who is willing to put in truck loads of money towards ending the food problem in the world. The two scientists have been extremely involved in the entire process and as joke about how their wives must be crazy to stay married to them. Dr. Bressler has twin daughters – Lily and Laurel.

The married couple travel from the airport to the hotel where the summit is going to be held but Dr. Harris forgets his briefcase which is carrying all his identification. It gets left back on the strolley @ the airport. Once he realizes this, he leaves the hotel without checking in. But en route to the airport the car just about manages to avoid crashing into a refrigerator but is unable to avoid flying off the bridge and into the river below. The driver, Gina (Diane Kruger) manages to drag Martin out of the water but funnily doesn’t stay back for the police to come in. She quietly slips away before the cops come in. Four days later, Martin wakes up in a hospital and has no idea how he got there. His last memory is that of getting out of the airport. It would seem that he was in a coma for the past four days and the bump onto his head has led to a temporary loss of memory. He does struggle out of bed after a couple of hours and gets back to the hotel only to be told that there is already a Dr. Martin Harris at the hotel. His wife, Elizabeth also refuses to acknowledge him as her husband and instead calls for the new Dr. Harris (Aidan Quinn).

Liam Neeson continues to put up a performance which has a lot of intensity in Unknown. A couple of dialogues stand out. One of them which says, “You know what its like to be insane doctor? Its like being in a war between being told who you are and knowing who you are”. And Neeson delivers this with absolute cold intensity. Great to see Aidan Quinn back in movies. The last I remember him from would be The Assignment where he plays The Jackal. Diane Kruger’s performance as the illegal immigrant is extremely unconvincing. Grammatically correct English from a Bosnian who drives a taxi in Berlin. Am I missing a point here? Jaume Collet-Serra’s direction is quite solid to say the least. He does a good job in keeping you glued to the screen and looking forward to what would come next. At the same time, he is bad enough because one knows that there is something fishy about the good doctor and his wife from the first shot itself. Great action sequences and good impactful scenes pepper the entire movie. I believe it is a solid action flick making its appearance after a long time. Watch it. 7 on 10 from my side.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1552980505/

Rio

And we finally get to one of the more expected animation movies of the year. Phew!!! That was one long wait. Over 4 months since I saw the trailer for the first time, Rio hit screens in India last weekend (pardon me for the delay in putting up the review but it has seriously been super hectic). And I almost lost all hope that it would get there in the first place. I mean, what is with production houses that release the trailer some 6 months before the movie and then keep you waiting for time immemorial. After a while it gets to your nerves a bit too much and does nothing to build up the excitement in anyways. I would hazard a guess that anything more than 3 months and it gets to be really boring. Trailer Life Cycle hypothesis is what I would like to call it.


Lets move onto the more relevant point of discussion - the 7th release in the Animation genre from movie power house Twentieth Century Fox (TCF). That they have released only 7 to date should give TCF a good enough indication that they are not really cut out best to play around much in this genre. Other than the Ice Age series, the rest of the lot have been quite average and in fact not worth mentioning. Rio probably makes it to the list that can just about claim to have made the cut with nothing terribly brilliant about it nor was it horrendously made to say it wasn’t worth a dekko. TCFs favourite animation director would have to be Carlos Saldanah who has given them their most successful franchise to date. But somehow the namesake of the Jackal isn’t able to re-create the magic of Ice Age. One may argue that it is unfair to compare previous works and treat this in isolation. On both counts, Rio falls just that tad bit short of being a superb animation movie in the league of Up or Finding Nemo or for that matter even Cars. Pixar needn’t quite worry for now with the quality of work that they are giving us.

Rio is the story of Blue (Jesse Eisenberg) who finds himself caught by a trapper in the jungles right outside the famed Samba City and then traded as an exotic species of bird – the Blue Macaw. And that too when the poor baby is just about excited about the concept of flying. Pretty soon he finds himself in the other hemisphere in the extremely cold state of Milwaukee. By chance, he is found by Linda (Leslie Mann) who takes care of him like her best friend. A few years later, Tulio (Rodrigo Santoro) arrives at Linda’s doorstep and gives her the news that Blue is the last of its species (do macaws live upto 15-20 years coz that’s the amount of time that seems to have passed between Linda finding Blue and today). Now here’s a nerdy girl who has probably not been on a date and a Macaw who doesn’t know how to fly and find themselves travelling to Rio where their little adventure sees Blue trying to make an impression on Jewel (Anne Hathaway). In between all of that is an avian villain, a parakeet who goes by the name of Nigel (Jemaine Clement) and some avian friends – a Toucan called Rafael (George Lopez). Keeping them company are Pedro (Will i Am ) and Nico (Jamie Foxx). A reasonable adventure but a bit short of being really good. The Animation is not outstanding in anyways. 3D and the music are quite weak with nothing to get too excited about. The voice overs are quite well done though. Overall a 6 on 10. The kids will definitely love it. But not meant for all ages.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi470260249/

Thank You

He should probably thank his stars that he has a reasonable fan following in this country – enough and more morons who will walk into an AK movie just because its an AK movie. But that’s what we do to stars. Glorify them. Make temples for them. But even the extreme madness that this country has for Bollywood will not be able to save AK this time around. His acting talent or screen presence or whatever you want to call it has definitely reached it’s Nadir. AK – you cannot get worse than this. If you look at it positively, anywhere you go to from here will only be better. Or touch base quickly with Mannapuram Gold Loan – I am sure they will extend your contract for another year or so. I am quite certain that Akshay Kumar’s career with a major cinema house has ended successfully. For any future releases, he will have to trust his own funds or maybe depend on some rich relatives. Maybe Thank You was a test run – partially produced by Twinkle Khanna as per credits.

Thank You is a movie made in extreme bad taste. It once again endorses the concept of a cheating husband and in fact goes one step further by glorifying him. But then again, I guess there are enough and more women in this world who do not mind going back to husbands who have cheated on them. So why not capitalize on the movement (in a manner of speaking). The characters of… or should I say characterless – Raj (Bobby Deol), Yogi (Suniel Shetty) and Vikram (Irrfan Khan) run a business of selling yachts. And if one can describe the word “Tharki” (sex maniac), they would be the ideal examples. The epitomes. Raj’s wife Sanjana (Sonam Kapoor) believes in blind faith and obviously the husband takes as much advantage of that as possible. The other two are married to Maya (Celina Jaitley) and Shivani (Rimi Sen). Maya has already caught Yogi cheating on her and is getting back at him by treating him like a slave – which doesn’t seem to matter much to Yogi as such. And Vikram dominates Shivani as if there is no tomorrow. Things are about to get nasty for the promiscuous trio though thanks to the entry of Kishan (Akshay Kumar) who was responsible for Yogi getting caught.

If you liked the senselessness of the likes of No Entry and No Problem which seem to be reflective of Anees Bazmee’s favourite topic – cheating husbands – then Thank You is exactly the kind of movie that you would like to watch. If you are the more sensible kinds who believes in the concept of true cinema then please do not waste your money on this work that doesn’t have any semblance of direction, acting, screenplay, cinematography, editing and any of the other departments that are required to make a movie. The only one that continues to be worse than this is that sob story that spent a decade in a canister called Milenge Milenge. Thank You comes really close to being a case study at any Film Institute about what a movie should not be. I do wonder what people like Irrfan Khan were doing in this movie. And was definitely disappointed at how Sonam Kapoor crash landed from a curve that was showing signs of going North. As of now her stock has gone south. Maybe she should put the A back in her name. It may just about help. The rest of the cast has anyways not been worth mentioning and will not be. The miracle of course was the Rimi Sen did not speak in Bengali in this movie. The 1 additional point in the score for the movie comes for that and the fact that there are a couple of tracks that are definitely going to be doing their rounds in discos across the country. 2 on 10.

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi226729241/

The Eagle

Yes this is yet another one of those Gladiator kind movies. But this time in Anno Domini. 140 AD to be precise. Around the time when the Roman conquest had reached the northern part of Britain. Marcus Aquilla (Channing Tatum) asks to be posted as a commander in Britain much to the surprise of the legion. Rome’s conquest of Britain is not going too well with the spirited Northerners pushing the Romans back. This led to the creation of what we know today as the Hadrian’s Wall which runs right through the centre of Great Britain. In times like these, it is indeed surprising to see a young man who could have been posted anywhere to specifically ask for Britain. The previous commander doesn’t even wait to be formally relieved by Marcus and takes off. Marcus, however is quick to earn the respect of his soldiers when he commands an ambush on a local tribe that is after Roman blood. The respect for Marcus only increases manifold when during a second fight, he shows exemplary valour in standing up and facing near certain death.


It is only around this time that it becomes a bit clear as to what is his driving force of moving to Britain. His father was the commander of the ninth when the legion’s golden emblem was taken away in an ambush. His father lost his life in the bargain and could not save The Eagle. Now there are way too many old mother’s tales doing their rounds about what exactly happened and Marcus wants to know the truth and put an end to all the speculation. His plans are set back significantly thanks to a very bad leg – remember he stood up and faced death. He loses consciousness and almost his leg. We he does come around, he finds himself at his Uncle’s (Donald Sutherland) place somewhere in Britain. During his recovery, he saves a local boy from being killed in a regular fight against a gladiator. Esca (Jamie Bell) becomes his slave in return for saving his life. Things come to head when a couple of politicians come to visit his uncle and talk loosely about his father and how the loss of The Eagle was an insult to Rome. Having said that, they are still not willing to do anything about it. Marcus decides to take matters into his own hands and crippled leg and takes off with Esca to find The Eagle.

The Eagle exposes director Kevin MacDonald’s inability to produce a solid movie like his previous attempts in the absence of a good cast. For that matter, any director with a cast like this one would have struggled to give a decent end product. In that context, I tip my hat to Kevin Saar. Although the movie tends to be a drab in parts and MacDonald fails to hold your attention throughout, the end product would have been much worse with someone else if I were to hazard a guess. The sheer incompetence of Channing Tatum to emote on screen is not only very obvious but also gets onto your nerves after a point in time. And Jamie Bell doesn’t help too much either. What stands out is that in a movie like this – all Gladiator – Spartacus type is the absence of a woman and therefore thankfully the movie doesn’t drop to being soppy. One of the few saving graces. Needless to say, I don’t have anything against actresses and all of you would be very familiar with my stance on the fairer sex. Its just that I have always strived to find a reason to have an actress and unnecessarily up the romance / glamour quotient in a movie about the Roman Legion. On that hopefully “not perceived as sexist” note, I give this movie a 5 on 10. Kevin MacDonald – better luck next time with the casting.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2014091801/

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/

Just Go With It

Denis Dugan does it yet again. This is the second movie with the Adam Sandler – Denis Dugan combination that I am reviewing and I must say that there has been no improvement whatsoever. It could be a case of the director and actor have built a familiarity and there is no scope for further improvement. I would hazard a more drastic thought that they are probably the same person and that Dugan is just a front that Sandler and eventually gives us a movie that HE wants us to see. For the fifth time, Sandler and Dugan get together and give us a movie that is just about par for the course. In an adaptation of the 1969 classic Cactus Flower that starred Walter Mathau and was also the debut movie for Goldie Hawn. The only difference being that Cactus Flower was extremely tastefully made and is still remembered fondly in most circles. Just Go With It will be forgotten in a few moments after you move out of the hall.


Danny (Adam Sandler) is studying to be a doctor and is therefore a great catch for his would be wife. And the only reason the wife to be is willing to compromise on his horrendous looks (a really massive nose) is that he is a secure investment. And before I forget, she is as promiscuous as can be and has a romp in the sack with her ex boyfriend, the night before the wedding. Unfortunately for her, Danny over hears a conversation that she is having with her friends and is distraught to say the least. But things are about to change for the ugly Danny who decides to drown his sorrows in alcohol at the local bar and gets lucky… really lucky if you know what I mean. At this pivotal moment in his life, the medical student decides to keep his wedding ring and put up a front as being an unhappily married man thanks to an atrocious wife. He also chooses his area of specialization – Plastic Surgery – an extremely lucrative career in the developed world. And the wedding rings ensures that our good doctor continues to get his regular doses in the sack. Needless to say, he gets his nose also fixed soon enough to ensure that he doesn’t have any drawbacks whatsoever. This keeps going on for a few years but soon enough he finds himself not only attracted to but very much falling for Palmer (Brooklyn Decker). But his wedding ring gets him into trouble this time around and to bail himself out, he seeks the help of his very average looking but extremely committed secretary, Katherine (Jennifer Aniston).

If you have seen Cactus Flower you will find JGWI to be a travesty to say the least. If you haven’t seen it, I would strongly recommend that you watch it sooner than later because it is a wonderful movie. Adam Sandler, cannot, is not and will not be a patch on Walter Mathau, a fact that would be endorsed by several people. The same can be said of the rest of the cast also. I would guess that the only difference between Goldie Hawn and Brooklyn Decker would be that on a hotness quotient, Brooklyn is ahead by a country mile and a half. But if it is a question of class, then everyone in Cactus Flower is miles ahead. Now don’t misunderstand me when I say this. I am a genuine fan of remakes but they should be done in the right manner and tastefully. After JGWI, I am compelled to make a request for an organization that screens these remakes before the release. A just about average movie at best. 4.5 on 10 is what I would give it. Watch it on DVD if you have nothing else to do.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1443666457/

The Adjustment Bureau

Ever get the feeling that you are continuously being watched by someone or something? That the way things turn out in your life are not because you wanted them to turn out that way but because some external force or external person is actually doing things that take you down that path day in day out. I first got that feeling when I was watching Truman Show. I was completely convinced that my life is actually a television show. Especially because it is never short of masala at any given point of time. I should seriously consider the prospect of writing a book about my life which will eventually be made into a movie. As if there wasn’t enough of me to bother people already. High hopes I say. And after all that rambling, coming back to the point under consideration – you are being watched. After watching The Adjustment Bureau, you would get the same feeling for certain thanks to the more than convincing manner in which the story has been told and more importantly presented.

The youngest congressman in the history of the United States is one David Norris (Matt Damon). He gets his desire to get into politics at a very early age when he loses his drug addict brother and his mother in a very short span of time and his father takes him to Washington to get away from the pain. He is young, exuberant and different. People like him. People love him. All polls show that he is the front runner for the position of the Senator for the state of New York. And by a comfortable margin. But like most wannabe politicians, David has a past and that comes back to haunt him. A photograph from his college days that shows him “Mooning” and a bar brawl incident come crawling back and the voters suddenly want someone who is mature. No points for guessing who wins the election.

It is at this time that Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt) waltzes into his life or should I say the men’s room and gives him a perspective about how his wild ways make him a solid choice for the senate. An inspired David decides to change his closing speech and just wings it in much to the excitement of the crowd. But before he can make his move to catch up with Elise she is gone. As luck would have it, she does bump into him the next morning in the bus. And that’s where M/s Harry (Anthony Mackie), Richardson (John Slattery), Donaldson (Donnie Keshawarz) and Thompson (Terence Stamp) intervene as per the directions given by The Chairman (keep guessing). They are THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU. People who make slight changes in your life, without causing too many ripples (doubts in the human mind to know of their existence) in order to achieve a greater good.

Philip K Dick, author of the likes of Total Recall and Terminator, has one more book that gets made into a movie. His book is titled The Adjustment Team. Directed by George Nolfi – first time director but known for writing Ocean’s Twelve and Bourne Ultimatum – The Adjustment Bureau is a well made movie that keeps you pretty much riveted to the screen for the better part of 100 minutes. It is compact and well made. But the story is a bit soppy for my taste and the hints towards the man upstairs are a little too obvious. Matt Damon has come up with yet another solid performance and so has Emily Blunt who has acted within her limitations, is beautiful and very obviously British. Nolfi has the courage to make the right cuts as well and the final product is worth a watch. One of the better movies released over the weekend. 6.5 on 10 is my verdict.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2215418393/

Game

A seemingly successful actor – and I wonder how you can give this role to Jimmy Shergill – Vikram Kapoor kills a random girl in a pathetic display of drunken driving somewhere in Mumbai on the 22nd August 2007. A despicable looking politician is fighting elections in Thailand – uh? Thailand of all places – and he goes by the name of O P Ramsay (Bomman Irani). And then there is the so called Crime Reporter – how exotic – Tisha Khanna (Shahana Goswami) who has been completely distraught since her mother’s death. She is completely in denial but finds herself Driving Under the Influence way too often for the comfort of the London Police. Even more surprisingly, the London Police seem to be very kind to her and keep letting her go for some weird reason. By the way, is this just me or does everyone suddenly believe that there is too much drunk driving happening around in this movie – hmmm – whatever. Rounding off the quartet is the young Indian owner of a discotheque in Istanbul which is seemingly a front for the drug mafia. He goes by the name of Niel Menon (Abhishekh Bachchan) – good lord now there are mallus in Istanbul also??? No offence meant to my friends from across my state border – even I am almost mallu btw :P. Well this Menon finds himself owing $20 million to the Columbian Drug Mafia – now where did the Columbians come into play here. Anyways, he is an expert in self defence and he manages to get himself out of the attempt on his life using techniques which can be seen in any Steven Seagal Movie and can be comfortably achieved using some slick camera work as well.


And where exactly is this display how far the Indian’s have reached across the world actually headed to? It is moving towards the exotic island of Samos in Greece where yet another Indian worth $16 billion – and yes this time is the B word and not the M word – who goes by the name of Kabir Malhotra (Anupam Kher) has just been given confirmation by his “Executive Assistant” Samara Shroff (Gauhar Khan) that the four would be landing into Athens soon. Very soon. A very pensive Kabir Malhotra declares – Let the Game Begin – And suddenly you are wondering if you are @ the Olympics. What with several Greek references in the first few minutes.

Well, Game then follows the route of any standard Bollywood attempt for a crime caper or a murder mystery. Extremely predictable for the just above average movie goer and quite long drawn as well. With both direction and acting seemingly absent from the movie, you start wondering what is keeping you stuck to your seat and then maybe your rational side tells you it is the 200 bucks that you paid for the tickets and the hope that it will actually not land up meeting your predictions and just about surprise you. But that’s not going to happen I assure you. The acting, in fact, gets worse with the movement of Kangana Ranaut – Senior Officer of the International Vigilance Services – walks in and starts off with her severe emphasis on syllables. I wonder if there is a term for people who speak in the manner that she does. Sarah Jane Dias doesn’t have any respectable amount of screen time. If anything saves the movie it would be the natural performances of Boman Irani and Anupam Kher who people expect to deliver at these levels anyways. Nothing worth mentioning per se in the movie. I give it a 4 on 10. Definitely missable. You could catch it on cable or on DVD when it gets out and save some money.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2743639321/

Sucker Punch

Trailer seen somewhere in December 2010 when I was down under. If I remember correctly, I had called out as a movie that I really want to see coz it was extremely slickly made. Well Sucker Punch released weekend before last on the 25th March 2011 right in between World Cup frenzy in a cricket crazy country and I guess loads of people didn’t even know that it had released. Thankfully, it survived for a week more for me to catch up with it a couple of hours back. Director Zack Snyder, picks up from where he left off with 300 and Watchmen – and before anyone of you correct me, yes I know he made Owls of Gahoole as well but that wasn’t in the same genre. This one is in true Graphic Novel ishtyle… or should I say Graphic Movie style.


A girl, who doesn’t have a name per se but everyone calls Baby Doll (Emily Browning), all of 20 years old, loses her mother. She is now left to take care of her sister. But her step father has other ideas. He is extremely upset that his wife has left them a last will and testament that bequeaths all their wealth to her daughters. The only way he can think of avenging this is by raping Baby Doll who manages to run off and lock herself up in a closet. But the sick step father now goes after the younger sister – who one can imaging would be all of 7, maybe 10 years old at the most. Baby Doll would do everything to save her sister including shooting her step father and that’s exactly what she tries to do. But misses and the ricochet strikes her sister instead. Distraught with killing her own flesh and blood, she runs away but is soon caught by the cops and remanded to the Lennox Mental Asylum where her father pays a couple of grand to the nurse, Blue Jones (Oscar Isaac) to “take care” of her. In an attempt to cope up with her fears of the asylum Baby Doll puts herself into a make believe world where 4 other inmates become her closest friends – Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) and Amber (Jamie Chung). She imagines herself being held at a dance bar owned by Blue and helped by the lead dance instructor, Gorski (Carla Gugino). Each time she is asked to dance, she imagines herself in a war like situation where she confronts her apprehensions and fears all in a quest to get out of the asylum.

Snyder starts his movie on the tune of “Sweet Dreams” sung by Emily Browning in a very haunting manner. And then he keeps the music coming through in every single frame. One of the best parts of the movie is the music which is a superb blend of metal and new age rock if I could call it that. The metaphorical references of our inner fears in the form of several high intensity wars and the use of special effects to bring the concept alive are both simply superb. The cinematography is also excellent. But where the movie falls woefully short is the appalling acting talent on display. With the exception of Scot Glen – who plays the role of the wise man – no one else seems to have any aptitude for acting. The stand out disaster is Vanessa Hudgens – stick to High School Musicals Ms. Hudgens. The rest of the cast barely manages to make it through. All in all, its an entertaining flick to say the least. After about half an hour you begin to think that it is just a soft porn action flick – which it is coincidentally – but the Fx is simply amazing which manages to get this movie a SciFi classification as against a Soft Porn one. Parental advice strongly recommended. 6 on 10.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi107256089/