All Steve Carell fans in the house – raise your hands!!!! I am sure there would be millions of you out there. And I am definitely one of you. Always been a Carell fan – even though he does get gut wrenchingly slapstick at times. More often than not, he lives up to the high standards of comedy that he sets for himself. And there is something absolutely hilarious about his brand of “straight faced – expressionless” comedy. Very rarely would you see movements of muscle on the face but yet, you have to give it to the man for coming up with the goods more often than not.
This time around he plays the role of Cal Weaver (Steve Carell) who is a 40 something man and married to Emily Weaver (Julianne Moore) for over 20 years now. Cal seems to think he is happily married. But that may not be the case with Emily who doesn’t waste too much time over dinner and pops out those earth shattering four words – I want a divorce.
It would seem that while Cal has been the loyal husband, Emily thought that the spark was lost and was upto some hanky panky with her colleague David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon – why does he keep getting such roles). A crushed Cal decides to move out of his house asap and start the divorce proceedings. He gets into a life filled with self pity and can use only one line to hope and pick up women – My wife is sleeping with another man. Needless to say, his success rate hasn’t seen a curve going above the level of 0.
Around this time is when he meets Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling) – ladies man par excellence who cannot stand Cal wallowing in his heart break and decides to “take Cal under his wing”. With some efficient coaching, Cal soon becomes a ladies man and the scores touch double figures. All going well till Jacob himself bumps into Hannah (Emma Stone) who believes that her stuck up boyfriend is actually going to propose. When he doesn’t, she decides to go out there and have a blast. Jacob becomes the object that is about to be used.
Much as the story may seem to be a soppy RomCom, it is actually far from it. The entire treatment by Glenn Ficarra & John Requa gives the movie a comic twist – and of course ably assisted by Steve Carrel. Good solid performances from most of the cast. Watch out for the bit part from the ever reliable Marisa Tomei – simply superb!!! If you haven’t seen Crazy Stupid Love yet, then please head out to the nearest DVD store and at least rent it if you don’t believe in buying DVDs. Will be well worth the 500 bucks. 7 on 10.
Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3722091801/
Monday, 20 August 2012
Sunday, 19 August 2012
Desi Boyz
I never managed to watch Desi Boyz till a couple of days back when I caught up with it on TV. I cannot remember the channel for the life of me. But I don’t think it really matters. I was told all sorts of things about how I should avoid the movie like the plague and I should not consider watching it even if I was paid for it – amongst other heinous things.
And I guess that age old rule applied once again – If you don’t set your expectations of a movie then chances are that you may not find it that bad. I must say that I found Desi Boyz to be a movie that could be tolerated. And quite comfortably at that. Probably because I saw it without any expectations whatsoever. But there were some other factors that helped in getting my expectation so low.
I have not been much of an Akshay Kumar fan in the past few years. I strongly believe that he has lost his comic timing. If memory serves me right, the slide began with either Garam Masala and then all was lost by the time we came to CC2C. The good comedian in him has over time been replaced by someone who is quite slapstick and seems to be struggling to keep even himself humoured. Desi Boyz was probably a bit better than his recent disasters.
My expectations from John Abraham the actor have never been too high. Sincere effort always put in. Definitely lots of hard work. But I believe he can at best be eye candy and nothing more. And what candy!!! As regards Deepika, I have been a fan of the confidence and will continue to be one – despite the fact that it seems to be deteriorating over the past few movies. And Chitrangadha in this new sultry avatar was a surprise – if only the strip teaching exercise would have continued just a bit more.
Desi Boyz is a cheap effort at mimicking The Full Monty but only with 2 people and a lot of Desi Masala also thrown in which doesn’t help much. Jignesh Patel (AK) is left with the task of taking care of his sister’s son after an accident takes them away. Jignesh works in a security services company. His best friend is Nikhil Mathur (John) who is an MBA from London School of Economics (WOW!!!).
Both are hit by the “recession” and find themselves jobless. Nikhil has to take care of his girl friend Radhika’s (Deepika) utopian expectations of marriage and a family after. Jignesh has to prevent Social Security from taking away his nephew. Desperation drives them to Boss (Sanjay Dutt) who runs a high level escort service and they start making the big bucks after a lot of reluctance.
If you are willing to ignore the basic errors and cheesy dialogues that come with most movies of this kind, Desi Boyz can actually be a great watch. The music is quite decent with some popular songs in the recent past. Overall as I said earlier – not disappointing because my expectations were lower than what I got. I thought you could tolerate it. Watch it if you have nothing better to do. 4 on 10.
Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWlorjdK8cI
And I guess that age old rule applied once again – If you don’t set your expectations of a movie then chances are that you may not find it that bad. I must say that I found Desi Boyz to be a movie that could be tolerated. And quite comfortably at that. Probably because I saw it without any expectations whatsoever. But there were some other factors that helped in getting my expectation so low.
I have not been much of an Akshay Kumar fan in the past few years. I strongly believe that he has lost his comic timing. If memory serves me right, the slide began with either Garam Masala and then all was lost by the time we came to CC2C. The good comedian in him has over time been replaced by someone who is quite slapstick and seems to be struggling to keep even himself humoured. Desi Boyz was probably a bit better than his recent disasters.
My expectations from John Abraham the actor have never been too high. Sincere effort always put in. Definitely lots of hard work. But I believe he can at best be eye candy and nothing more. And what candy!!! As regards Deepika, I have been a fan of the confidence and will continue to be one – despite the fact that it seems to be deteriorating over the past few movies. And Chitrangadha in this new sultry avatar was a surprise – if only the strip teaching exercise would have continued just a bit more.
Desi Boyz is a cheap effort at mimicking The Full Monty but only with 2 people and a lot of Desi Masala also thrown in which doesn’t help much. Jignesh Patel (AK) is left with the task of taking care of his sister’s son after an accident takes them away. Jignesh works in a security services company. His best friend is Nikhil Mathur (John) who is an MBA from London School of Economics (WOW!!!).
Both are hit by the “recession” and find themselves jobless. Nikhil has to take care of his girl friend Radhika’s (Deepika) utopian expectations of marriage and a family after. Jignesh has to prevent Social Security from taking away his nephew. Desperation drives them to Boss (Sanjay Dutt) who runs a high level escort service and they start making the big bucks after a lot of reluctance.
If you are willing to ignore the basic errors and cheesy dialogues that come with most movies of this kind, Desi Boyz can actually be a great watch. The music is quite decent with some popular songs in the recent past. Overall as I said earlier – not disappointing because my expectations were lower than what I got. I thought you could tolerate it. Watch it if you have nothing better to do. 4 on 10.
Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWlorjdK8cI
Rock On!
Rock On! was an absolute hit when it released. Personally, I was quite surprised at the huge success that it had at the BO. I wasn’t too impressed when I saw it for the first time. I thought it was good alright. But I didn’t quite get what the entire hullabaloo was about. But then as the days have gone by and as you see the re-runs on TV and start looking at the story again and again I guess it kind of grows on you.
I really cannot put my finger on one thing that makes Rock On! a good movie to watch. Would it be the story which has a genuine aspect of making things work against all odds? Possible. Magik is a rock band that has 4 people – Aditya Shroff aka Adi (Farhan Akhtar) – lead singer, Joseph Mascarenhas aka Joe (Arjun Rampal) – guitar, Rob Nancy (Luke Kenny) – keyboards and Kedar Zaveri aka Killer Drummer aka KD (Purab Kohli) – Drums.
They are quite a rage with the crowds and win the annual Rock Band Hunt. En route to cutting their first album, the hang ups that come with the producers and the record labels get them quite worked up. And when Joe decides that enough is enough, it comes down to a fist fight with the Music Video Director and eventually Adi. Of course the band breaks up.
A few years later now and each one of them are on different ways. Some – like Adi are successful but unhappy Investment Bankers. Others – like Joe are unsuccessful but unhappy out of work guitarists. A chance meeting occurs between KD and Sakshi (Prachi Desai – Adi’s wife – at the jewelry store that KD helps his dad with. One thing leads to another and the band slowly but surely gets back together.
Another success factor of the movie could have been the sincere effort put in by the entire cast. Sincere and really good too. Actually, I cannot think of a single person – even the small role that the likes of Suraj Jagan played – who did not come up with the goods in terms of what the role demanded. I thought the band – together – was very good. But the find of the movie had to be Shahana Goswami in her first major role.
However, what I believe has kept Rock On! in the minds of everyone since then has to be the music from Shankar Ehsaan Loy which was as rock as it could have been – at least in this country. They even experimented with a hard rock number in “Zehreelay” which was sung very well by Suraj Jagan. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t the most popular number. And much as I am not a huge fan of Javed Akhtar – I think he was fantastic this time around.
Much as I hate to correct myself on my initial assessment of the movie – Rock On! is one of the better ones to come out of Bollywood in the past decade. It could actually make it to the top 10 of the decade quite easily. Different. Brave. Well treated by Abhishek Kapoor. All the ingredients that go into making a good solid musical. Watch it if you can. It keeps playing quite often on TV these days. 7 on 10.
Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugzdDjnqfW4
I really cannot put my finger on one thing that makes Rock On! a good movie to watch. Would it be the story which has a genuine aspect of making things work against all odds? Possible. Magik is a rock band that has 4 people – Aditya Shroff aka Adi (Farhan Akhtar) – lead singer, Joseph Mascarenhas aka Joe (Arjun Rampal) – guitar, Rob Nancy (Luke Kenny) – keyboards and Kedar Zaveri aka Killer Drummer aka KD (Purab Kohli) – Drums.
They are quite a rage with the crowds and win the annual Rock Band Hunt. En route to cutting their first album, the hang ups that come with the producers and the record labels get them quite worked up. And when Joe decides that enough is enough, it comes down to a fist fight with the Music Video Director and eventually Adi. Of course the band breaks up.
A few years later now and each one of them are on different ways. Some – like Adi are successful but unhappy Investment Bankers. Others – like Joe are unsuccessful but unhappy out of work guitarists. A chance meeting occurs between KD and Sakshi (Prachi Desai – Adi’s wife – at the jewelry store that KD helps his dad with. One thing leads to another and the band slowly but surely gets back together.
Another success factor of the movie could have been the sincere effort put in by the entire cast. Sincere and really good too. Actually, I cannot think of a single person – even the small role that the likes of Suraj Jagan played – who did not come up with the goods in terms of what the role demanded. I thought the band – together – was very good. But the find of the movie had to be Shahana Goswami in her first major role.
However, what I believe has kept Rock On! in the minds of everyone since then has to be the music from Shankar Ehsaan Loy which was as rock as it could have been – at least in this country. They even experimented with a hard rock number in “Zehreelay” which was sung very well by Suraj Jagan. Not surprisingly, it wasn’t the most popular number. And much as I am not a huge fan of Javed Akhtar – I think he was fantastic this time around.
Much as I hate to correct myself on my initial assessment of the movie – Rock On! is one of the better ones to come out of Bollywood in the past decade. It could actually make it to the top 10 of the decade quite easily. Different. Brave. Well treated by Abhishek Kapoor. All the ingredients that go into making a good solid musical. Watch it if you can. It keeps playing quite often on TV these days. 7 on 10.
Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugzdDjnqfW4
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
Ek Tha Tiger
If there was a contest for the biggest fan following that an actor has in India, then it would undeniably come down to the 3 Khans. But if there was a contest for the most intense fan following that an actor has in India then it would have to undisputedly go to the most notorious Khan of all.
How else could you remotely explain a line of over a 100 people @ lined up outside one of the least attractive theatres in Goa? Well we are not talking about 100 people @ say noon. We are talking about 100+ people squashing themselves against a closed shutter @ 8 am. All for a 9:20 am show for which they may or may not get tickets. Incredible isn’t it????
That I was one of them and got back drenched in sweat after an hour of jostling and pushing and abusing the people around me was enough reason for me not to give up the 1:10 pm show for which I eventually got the tickets. I was not about to get out of THAT line without a ticket. And now all that was left was to keep my fingers crossed and hope that Ek Tha Tiger was remotely worth it.
And luckily for me, it turned out to be a pretty decent watch. After Salman’s continuous demotion i.e. ACP (Wanted), Inspector (Dabang) and Bodyguard I was half expecting it to be a watchman this time. But he got down to a level lower. A genre of people who no one has any clue about. A fascinating and yet very hush-hush profession. And debatably the lowest rung of the ladder in terms of appreciation for work done – a RAW Agent.
And this RAW Agent goes by the name of Tiger and has a boss called Shenoy (Girish Karnad). Tiger’s latest agenda is to track the workings of a Professor Kidwai (Roshan Sheth) who stays in Dublin. This is after a street fight in some village in Northern Iraq where he gets a few ISI Agents and a rogue RAW Agent killed. And like a RAW Agent would, he smartly befriends Zoya (Katrina) who helps the professor with some house work and is a choreographer by profession.
Ek Tha Tiger is actually a fairly well made espionage movie at the end of the day. Most of the stunts and chase sequences are logical. They may be quite James Bondish in execution and not something that the “evolved” Indian audience may look down upon. But I have said this for Agent Vinod and I think Ek Tha Tiger follows suit. Yes it tends to get too soppy in between but I guess the soppiness is in line with the story.
The music is decent from Sohail Sen & Sajid Wajid but I thought a couple of songs were not required and out of place – but this is Bollywood. Rameshwar S. Bhagat’s editing was quite decent. Director Kabir Khan gave us Kabul Express where he did a damn good job and a decent one with New York. Ek Tha Tiger gets him back level pegging with Kabul Express. Good show from the man.
Don’t look for acting talent. Be tolerant about the action sequences – you will enjoy the 2 chase sequences where Kat and Sallu Bhai (their body doubles of course) give some really good display of Parkour. I thought it wasn’t bad. I think Sallu Bhai comes on tops this time. Good way to say Eid Mubarak to all of us I guess. 6 on 10.
Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWlorjdK8cI
How else could you remotely explain a line of over a 100 people @ lined up outside one of the least attractive theatres in Goa? Well we are not talking about 100 people @ say noon. We are talking about 100+ people squashing themselves against a closed shutter @ 8 am. All for a 9:20 am show for which they may or may not get tickets. Incredible isn’t it????
That I was one of them and got back drenched in sweat after an hour of jostling and pushing and abusing the people around me was enough reason for me not to give up the 1:10 pm show for which I eventually got the tickets. I was not about to get out of THAT line without a ticket. And now all that was left was to keep my fingers crossed and hope that Ek Tha Tiger was remotely worth it.
And luckily for me, it turned out to be a pretty decent watch. After Salman’s continuous demotion i.e. ACP (Wanted), Inspector (Dabang) and Bodyguard I was half expecting it to be a watchman this time. But he got down to a level lower. A genre of people who no one has any clue about. A fascinating and yet very hush-hush profession. And debatably the lowest rung of the ladder in terms of appreciation for work done – a RAW Agent.
And this RAW Agent goes by the name of Tiger and has a boss called Shenoy (Girish Karnad). Tiger’s latest agenda is to track the workings of a Professor Kidwai (Roshan Sheth) who stays in Dublin. This is after a street fight in some village in Northern Iraq where he gets a few ISI Agents and a rogue RAW Agent killed. And like a RAW Agent would, he smartly befriends Zoya (Katrina) who helps the professor with some house work and is a choreographer by profession.
Ek Tha Tiger is actually a fairly well made espionage movie at the end of the day. Most of the stunts and chase sequences are logical. They may be quite James Bondish in execution and not something that the “evolved” Indian audience may look down upon. But I have said this for Agent Vinod and I think Ek Tha Tiger follows suit. Yes it tends to get too soppy in between but I guess the soppiness is in line with the story.
The music is decent from Sohail Sen & Sajid Wajid but I thought a couple of songs were not required and out of place – but this is Bollywood. Rameshwar S. Bhagat’s editing was quite decent. Director Kabir Khan gave us Kabul Express where he did a damn good job and a decent one with New York. Ek Tha Tiger gets him back level pegging with Kabul Express. Good show from the man.
Don’t look for acting talent. Be tolerant about the action sequences – you will enjoy the 2 chase sequences where Kat and Sallu Bhai (their body doubles of course) give some really good display of Parkour. I thought it wasn’t bad. I think Sallu Bhai comes on tops this time. Good way to say Eid Mubarak to all of us I guess. 6 on 10.
Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWlorjdK8cI
Saturday, 11 August 2012
We Bought a Zoo
This is another movie that I missed during my trip down under earlier this year. For some reason or the other, I just could not get around to it. Either due to lack of time or because the screen was actually in the ass end of nowhere or once when I was out of cash and the establishment didn’t accept a credit card :S. Had to wait for Kaushik (my brother) to come in with cash for the rest of the day.
Just one of those jinxed movies I guess. However, I can assure you it was worth every rupee of the five hundred and ninety nine that I eventually spent on getting the DVD. It came highly recommended by those who had actually downloaded the movie earlier. And I was added to that list of people who loved “We Bought a Zoo”. The fact that it is based on a true story is just one of the reasons for loving it.
You will love We Bought a Zoo because it is based on the real life story of Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) – who also wrote the book (Mee not Damon in case you are confused) of the same name – and his family of a 7 year old daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) and teenage son Dylan (Colin Ford). The family is coming to terms with the loss of the lady of the house – Katherine (Stephanie Szostak).
Benjamin is just not able to forget any of the places that are associated with Katherine. And money was never really a worry for the Mee family. Especially after they inherit quite a bit from their family. Finally, Benjamin decides that it is time for the family to move out of the house that they made into a home. It was time to start afresh.
But the house hunt doesn’t really look positive till the last place in the day – a 16 acre property which used to be the Dartmoor Zoo. Maggie falls in love instantly and after some thought and enough resistance from his Brother Duncan (Thomas Haden Church), Benjamin decides to take the plunge and buy themselves a Zoo. All the adventures he has experienced in his life such as flying into the eye of an actual storm would start to pale in comparison to the one that the Mee’s are about to embark on.
As mentioned earlier, the endearing nature of the story is probably the best part about the movie but lets not forget that it is backed by some really good direction from Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous). And of course the performances are just right. Whether it is from the ever dependable Matt Damon or the extremely pretty Maggie Jones. And then of course there is Hollywood’s hottest Scarlett Johansson :p
Jokes apart – very sweet movie and a must watch with the family if you can. You will love it for certain. 7 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi592747545/
Just one of those jinxed movies I guess. However, I can assure you it was worth every rupee of the five hundred and ninety nine that I eventually spent on getting the DVD. It came highly recommended by those who had actually downloaded the movie earlier. And I was added to that list of people who loved “We Bought a Zoo”. The fact that it is based on a true story is just one of the reasons for loving it.
You will love We Bought a Zoo because it is based on the real life story of Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) – who also wrote the book (Mee not Damon in case you are confused) of the same name – and his family of a 7 year old daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) and teenage son Dylan (Colin Ford). The family is coming to terms with the loss of the lady of the house – Katherine (Stephanie Szostak).
Benjamin is just not able to forget any of the places that are associated with Katherine. And money was never really a worry for the Mee family. Especially after they inherit quite a bit from their family. Finally, Benjamin decides that it is time for the family to move out of the house that they made into a home. It was time to start afresh.
But the house hunt doesn’t really look positive till the last place in the day – a 16 acre property which used to be the Dartmoor Zoo. Maggie falls in love instantly and after some thought and enough resistance from his Brother Duncan (Thomas Haden Church), Benjamin decides to take the plunge and buy themselves a Zoo. All the adventures he has experienced in his life such as flying into the eye of an actual storm would start to pale in comparison to the one that the Mee’s are about to embark on.
As mentioned earlier, the endearing nature of the story is probably the best part about the movie but lets not forget that it is backed by some really good direction from Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous). And of course the performances are just right. Whether it is from the ever dependable Matt Damon or the extremely pretty Maggie Jones. And then of course there is Hollywood’s hottest Scarlett Johansson :p
Jokes apart – very sweet movie and a must watch with the family if you can. You will love it for certain. 7 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi592747545/
The Bourne Legacy
So firstly lets get some facts absolutely straight.
1. The Bourne Legacy was and is NOT part of the Bourne series
2. The Bourne Legacy was written by a guy called Eric Van Lustbader in 2004.
3. There are 6 more novels in the series – Betrayal, Sanction, Deception, Objective, Dominion and Imperative
4. The movie has nothing to do with the novel or any of the 6 novels released thence.
5. Robert Ludlum has nothing to do with the novels of Lustbader. He has just permitted him to use the character. He has also been credited as the inspiration for the movie but that’s where it all ends.
First Doug Liman, then Paul Greengrass and now Tony Gilroy joins the list of directors who have been involved in Bourne Movies to date. Liman kick started it all and Greengrass was responsible for the 2 sequels that followed and are rated by many as the best in the series. Greengrass has nothing much to fear after the release of Legacy. Not because Gilroy is a bad director by any stretch of imagination. But more because if Matt Damon is not in a Bourne movie then it has probably lost half its sheen.
Thankfully, Jeremy Renner doesn’t play Bourne. The character of Bourne as shown in a few pics and rushes from the previous movies is played by Damon. But 13.839 seconds of screen time is all he gets. Renner plays the role of Aaron Cross who is part of a programme called Outcome which is being run in parallel to Operation Blackbriar and Treadstone. It is spearheaded by Eric Byer (Edward Norton).
With the shit hitting the roof after Pamela Landy’s (Joan Allen) exposé on Blackbriar, all so called “patriotic agencies” start dismantling their respective programmes. Outcome is part of this initiative. For the un-initiated, dismantling would mean doing away with – leaving no proof – incinerating all evidence – killing everyone remotely associated with the programme.
And so each and every field agent is done away with from Karachi to Seoul to back home. Aaron Cross is however, in a training exercise in Alaska and manages to evade extermination. He heads straight across to the only person who also miraculously survives these attempts to eliminate - Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz). And the story that follows is like most other Bourne movies.
Credit to Gilroy – who has also written the previous ones – for ensuring the consistency in the story line and little or no gaps. But then, he has also not come up with anything spectacular or new. So if you have seen the previous ones you may be a tad disappointed. But if you haven’t then you may miss out on certain key connections that are important. More importantly – where were you when all the excitement was happening?
Bourne Legacy is a must watch for self confessed Bourne fans. The final chase sequence is very good and edge of the seat material. The build up towards the finalé is however quite slow with just a couple of exciting moments such as when Martha and Aaron meet for the first time after they escape being killed. Overall a well made movie. But not so important to watch on the big screen. Good performances overall. 6.5 on 10.
Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1065461017/
1. The Bourne Legacy was and is NOT part of the Bourne series
2. The Bourne Legacy was written by a guy called Eric Van Lustbader in 2004.
3. There are 6 more novels in the series – Betrayal, Sanction, Deception, Objective, Dominion and Imperative
4. The movie has nothing to do with the novel or any of the 6 novels released thence.
5. Robert Ludlum has nothing to do with the novels of Lustbader. He has just permitted him to use the character. He has also been credited as the inspiration for the movie but that’s where it all ends.
First Doug Liman, then Paul Greengrass and now Tony Gilroy joins the list of directors who have been involved in Bourne Movies to date. Liman kick started it all and Greengrass was responsible for the 2 sequels that followed and are rated by many as the best in the series. Greengrass has nothing much to fear after the release of Legacy. Not because Gilroy is a bad director by any stretch of imagination. But more because if Matt Damon is not in a Bourne movie then it has probably lost half its sheen.
Thankfully, Jeremy Renner doesn’t play Bourne. The character of Bourne as shown in a few pics and rushes from the previous movies is played by Damon. But 13.839 seconds of screen time is all he gets. Renner plays the role of Aaron Cross who is part of a programme called Outcome which is being run in parallel to Operation Blackbriar and Treadstone. It is spearheaded by Eric Byer (Edward Norton).
With the shit hitting the roof after Pamela Landy’s (Joan Allen) exposé on Blackbriar, all so called “patriotic agencies” start dismantling their respective programmes. Outcome is part of this initiative. For the un-initiated, dismantling would mean doing away with – leaving no proof – incinerating all evidence – killing everyone remotely associated with the programme.
And so each and every field agent is done away with from Karachi to Seoul to back home. Aaron Cross is however, in a training exercise in Alaska and manages to evade extermination. He heads straight across to the only person who also miraculously survives these attempts to eliminate - Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz). And the story that follows is like most other Bourne movies.
Credit to Gilroy – who has also written the previous ones – for ensuring the consistency in the story line and little or no gaps. But then, he has also not come up with anything spectacular or new. So if you have seen the previous ones you may be a tad disappointed. But if you haven’t then you may miss out on certain key connections that are important. More importantly – where were you when all the excitement was happening?
Bourne Legacy is a must watch for self confessed Bourne fans. The final chase sequence is very good and edge of the seat material. The build up towards the finalé is however quite slow with just a couple of exciting moments such as when Martha and Aaron meet for the first time after they escape being killed. Overall a well made movie. But not so important to watch on the big screen. Good performances overall. 6.5 on 10.
Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1065461017/
Friday, 10 August 2012
Total Recall (2012)
When was the last time you saw Kate Beckinsale in a negative role? The word you would be looking for maybe “Never”. And I would love to be informed about an instance if it ever happened in the past. Just another piece of useless info that I may find useful sometime . Having said that, even if this is a first of its kind, I strongly believe that she should not stop picking up such roles. In the nearly 2 hours that you will stay in the hall, she is probably the only reason you will have to actually stay in your seat.
Scenes without Beckinsale, pale in comparison to the rest of the movie. Especially because you have 2 of THE most over rated actors in Hollywood hogging a big chunk of the screen time. An Irish man called Colin Farrell and a Latina looking hottie called Jessica Biel. Both of them are fine human specimens and worth ogling at. But unfortunately, that’s where it ends.
Very rarely has Colin Farrell shown signs of being a good actor. Maybe in The Recruit and Phone Booth. Total Recall doesn’t do much to change it. Most scenes are splattered with the registered Trade Mark constipated, weight of the world on my shoulders look. And the lesser said of Ms. Biel, the better – only in the acting department. Actually, in this one she slips to an all time low I think. Unfortunately, with only 3 key characters hogging the screen time, it gets really difficult.
Total Recall (2012) is almost identical to the 1990 movie of the same name which starred the Austrian born, ex-governor of the great state of California (USA). It is based on the book by famed SciFi writer, Philip Dick. The book is titled “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale”. Credit to the makers of this version that they actually call it out as “Based on the movie – Total Recall (1990)”.
While a lot of the paraphernalia and the breaks in the story line have been removed in this version, the overall concept continues to remain the same. Chemical warfare has got the world to almost an end. There are 2 places left to stay in – The United Federation of Britain (UFB) which is erstwhile Europe & The Colony which is esrstwhile Australia. Both are connected by a mode of transportation called “The Fall” which is a high velocity automobile that goes straight through Mother Earth passing the core on the way.
Douglas Quaid (Farrell), a citizen of The Colony, is a man who is bored of his job that doesn’t seem to be making a difference to anyone’s life. In an attempt to add spice to his life, he goes to a local agency called “Rekall” (yes it is with a K and not C) which promises great memories without changing your life in general. Quaid is married to Lori (Beckinsale) and is troubled with some dreams which shows him trying to escape soldiers of the UFB and saving a girl (Biel) whose name he doesn’t know. At Rekall, he signs up for a memory of a “spy” and as they would say – the roller coaster begins.
Total Recall – this version – is again not upto the mark that it could have reached. Len Wiseman is a strong SciFi director and makes up for the lack of intensity with SFX that are quite good. But after all of that, he only had his Underworld star to bank on and doesn’t really come up with a block buster. Not a must watch. 5 on 10.
Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi297444633/
Scenes without Beckinsale, pale in comparison to the rest of the movie. Especially because you have 2 of THE most over rated actors in Hollywood hogging a big chunk of the screen time. An Irish man called Colin Farrell and a Latina looking hottie called Jessica Biel. Both of them are fine human specimens and worth ogling at. But unfortunately, that’s where it ends.
Very rarely has Colin Farrell shown signs of being a good actor. Maybe in The Recruit and Phone Booth. Total Recall doesn’t do much to change it. Most scenes are splattered with the registered Trade Mark constipated, weight of the world on my shoulders look. And the lesser said of Ms. Biel, the better – only in the acting department. Actually, in this one she slips to an all time low I think. Unfortunately, with only 3 key characters hogging the screen time, it gets really difficult.
Total Recall (2012) is almost identical to the 1990 movie of the same name which starred the Austrian born, ex-governor of the great state of California (USA). It is based on the book by famed SciFi writer, Philip Dick. The book is titled “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale”. Credit to the makers of this version that they actually call it out as “Based on the movie – Total Recall (1990)”.
While a lot of the paraphernalia and the breaks in the story line have been removed in this version, the overall concept continues to remain the same. Chemical warfare has got the world to almost an end. There are 2 places left to stay in – The United Federation of Britain (UFB) which is erstwhile Europe & The Colony which is esrstwhile Australia. Both are connected by a mode of transportation called “The Fall” which is a high velocity automobile that goes straight through Mother Earth passing the core on the way.
Douglas Quaid (Farrell), a citizen of The Colony, is a man who is bored of his job that doesn’t seem to be making a difference to anyone’s life. In an attempt to add spice to his life, he goes to a local agency called “Rekall” (yes it is with a K and not C) which promises great memories without changing your life in general. Quaid is married to Lori (Beckinsale) and is troubled with some dreams which shows him trying to escape soldiers of the UFB and saving a girl (Biel) whose name he doesn’t know. At Rekall, he signs up for a memory of a “spy” and as they would say – the roller coaster begins.
Total Recall – this version – is again not upto the mark that it could have reached. Len Wiseman is a strong SciFi director and makes up for the lack of intensity with SFX that are quite good. But after all of that, he only had his Underworld star to bank on and doesn’t really come up with a block buster. Not a must watch. 5 on 10.
Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi297444633/
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
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/
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/
Gangs of Wasseypur 2
Try and watch the trailer of Gangs of Wasseypur 2 (GoW2) before you actually watch the movie. It will give you a strong flavor of what you have in store of what can be easily termed as the most awaited sequel from the Bollywood stable in the recent and also the not the recent past. The lucky ones probably got to see the trailer at the end of Part 1 itself if your screen didn’t scrimp on saving power for a few minutes. For the not so lucky ones there is you tube.
GoW2 continues from exactly where it left off in GoW – with Sardar Khan’s death. But a few minutes into the movie and you will know that you are in for something that is even more gory and bloody as compared to the precursor. In about 10 minutes, there are 2 funerals and one chopped head – both of which are shown in as much graphic detail as you could probably get out from the censor board.
Sorry about the spoiler but it just left a lasting impression in my head. I can remember very few (if any) movies which are this graphic in nature and grabs hold of you with both hands and shakes you up in such a short span of time. And all of this is inspite of its really slow pace.
The onus of running the Khan family then falls squarely on the shoulders of Faizal Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) who has to now try to achieve a fine balance between his fascination for the green drug, his attraction to Mohsina (Huma Qureshi) and his mother’s expectation of revenge.
GoW2 also sees the introduction of 3 new characters. Faizal’s younger brother who speaks with a lisp who is fondly called Perpendicular. At age 14 he is uses Faizal’s fear to the maximum along with his almost fair weather friend called Tangent. And the most important character being Faizal’s step brother – Definite (Zeishan Quadri). The former and the latter are strongly sketched through the movie – especially Definite.
The hallmark of GoW2 will undeniably be the blood and gore that it has shown as blatantly as the censor board could have allowed. But this can at no point take away credit for the clean character sketches of each and every role or the stunning performances from each and every one in the crew. Even if it is a small role like that of Tangent, Shamshad or Guddu, the effort put in is simply superb. Anurag Kashyap could not have come up with the goods once again without these performances. To me, the find from the series would be Richa Chadda, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Tigmanshu Dhulia.
Watch out for yet another fabulous score from Sneha Khanwalkar. I personally think she is insane. One cannot make music that is so apt for a movie and of such high quality if you are normal. Not to forget the hilarious and talented performances from Yashpal Sharma. To me, GoW 1 and 2 have been the movie of the year to date. 7.5 on 10 for this one as well.
Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3PZbL8JGYQ
GoW2 continues from exactly where it left off in GoW – with Sardar Khan’s death. But a few minutes into the movie and you will know that you are in for something that is even more gory and bloody as compared to the precursor. In about 10 minutes, there are 2 funerals and one chopped head – both of which are shown in as much graphic detail as you could probably get out from the censor board.
Sorry about the spoiler but it just left a lasting impression in my head. I can remember very few (if any) movies which are this graphic in nature and grabs hold of you with both hands and shakes you up in such a short span of time. And all of this is inspite of its really slow pace.
The onus of running the Khan family then falls squarely on the shoulders of Faizal Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) who has to now try to achieve a fine balance between his fascination for the green drug, his attraction to Mohsina (Huma Qureshi) and his mother’s expectation of revenge.
GoW2 also sees the introduction of 3 new characters. Faizal’s younger brother who speaks with a lisp who is fondly called Perpendicular. At age 14 he is uses Faizal’s fear to the maximum along with his almost fair weather friend called Tangent. And the most important character being Faizal’s step brother – Definite (Zeishan Quadri). The former and the latter are strongly sketched through the movie – especially Definite.
The hallmark of GoW2 will undeniably be the blood and gore that it has shown as blatantly as the censor board could have allowed. But this can at no point take away credit for the clean character sketches of each and every role or the stunning performances from each and every one in the crew. Even if it is a small role like that of Tangent, Shamshad or Guddu, the effort put in is simply superb. Anurag Kashyap could not have come up with the goods once again without these performances. To me, the find from the series would be Richa Chadda, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Tigmanshu Dhulia.
Watch out for yet another fabulous score from Sneha Khanwalkar. I personally think she is insane. One cannot make music that is so apt for a movie and of such high quality if you are normal. Not to forget the hilarious and talented performances from Yashpal Sharma. To me, GoW 1 and 2 have been the movie of the year to date. 7.5 on 10 for this one as well.
Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3PZbL8JGYQ
Saturday, 4 August 2012
Kya Super Kool Hain Hum
Before you go to watch this movie, have a look at the video of the attempt that the lead stars have made towards promoting the movie in this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=dJ6Ge5ITCUA&NR=1
Let me assure you that it is nowhere remotely close to whatever these guys claim and that too in the most unconvincing manner. The closest thing to the truth is in one of the dialogues of the movie itself, “Hum log marne nahin waale hain. Kyonki yeh ordinary movie hai” (We aren’t going to die because this is an ordinary movie). By calling it ordinary they were indeed glorifying themselves just a little notch.
If you are one to get your kicks from really cheap slapstick humour – something on the lines of American Pie – then Kya Super Kool Hain Hum is a brilliant movie for you. It is an all out sex comedy with not one line exists where you could use the phrase, “No pun intended”. Lets sample a few of them.
“Aaj mere shareer ka sirf ek hissa kaala hai…… meri aankhen” (Only one part of my body is black as on date… my eyes)
“Mera Naam Bhagyashree Rajshree Mitali Joshi hai. Mere friends mujhe BJ kehke bulaate hain. Arre… yeh sunke aap ka muh kyon khul gaya” (My name is Bhagyashree Rajshree Mitali Joshi. My friends call me BJ. Why have you opened your mouth on hearing this? – apologies for the crude literal translation)
Many more such corny one liners and if these two have caught your fancy then KSKHH is just the right movie for you on a Sunday afternoon. Not much of a story either. Just 2 losers – one a struggling actor (and he calls himself one) and the other is an up and coming DJ. The former is called Adi (Tusshar) and the latter Sid (Ritiesh). They keep getting themselves in into all sorts of trouble thanks to their loose tongue more
And then there are the two pieces of eye candy. Simran (Neha Sharma) and Anu (Sarah Jane Dias) who do everything from rejecting marriage proposals to pretending to be lesbian and having a wardrobe malfunction in between for good measure. That they are absolutely gorgeous is a huge saving grace to themselves and the movie.
Do not, however, go there expecting any performances of any sort. There is some decent music for certain including the hugely popular “Garden Garden Ho Gaya”. Overall as mentioned earlier – slapstick. Not my kinds. But you may like it. 4 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq8QjEtrrbQ
Let me assure you that it is nowhere remotely close to whatever these guys claim and that too in the most unconvincing manner. The closest thing to the truth is in one of the dialogues of the movie itself, “Hum log marne nahin waale hain. Kyonki yeh ordinary movie hai” (We aren’t going to die because this is an ordinary movie). By calling it ordinary they were indeed glorifying themselves just a little notch.
If you are one to get your kicks from really cheap slapstick humour – something on the lines of American Pie – then Kya Super Kool Hain Hum is a brilliant movie for you. It is an all out sex comedy with not one line exists where you could use the phrase, “No pun intended”. Lets sample a few of them.
“Aaj mere shareer ka sirf ek hissa kaala hai…… meri aankhen” (Only one part of my body is black as on date… my eyes)
“Mera Naam Bhagyashree Rajshree Mitali Joshi hai. Mere friends mujhe BJ kehke bulaate hain. Arre… yeh sunke aap ka muh kyon khul gaya” (My name is Bhagyashree Rajshree Mitali Joshi. My friends call me BJ. Why have you opened your mouth on hearing this? – apologies for the crude literal translation)
Many more such corny one liners and if these two have caught your fancy then KSKHH is just the right movie for you on a Sunday afternoon. Not much of a story either. Just 2 losers – one a struggling actor (and he calls himself one) and the other is an up and coming DJ. The former is called Adi (Tusshar) and the latter Sid (Ritiesh). They keep getting themselves in into all sorts of trouble thanks to their loose tongue more
And then there are the two pieces of eye candy. Simran (Neha Sharma) and Anu (Sarah Jane Dias) who do everything from rejecting marriage proposals to pretending to be lesbian and having a wardrobe malfunction in between for good measure. That they are absolutely gorgeous is a huge saving grace to themselves and the movie.
Do not, however, go there expecting any performances of any sort. There is some decent music for certain including the hugely popular “Garden Garden Ho Gaya”. Overall as mentioned earlier – slapstick. Not my kinds. But you may like it. 4 on 10.
Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq8QjEtrrbQ
Friday, 3 August 2012
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Now pause for just a few seconds and look at the string of names that dot this movie. Lets start with Stephen Daldry. He has directed 6 actors to Oscar nominated roles. At least one of whom has won an Oscar (The Reader – Kate Winslet). He has directed 4 full length features starting with Billy Elliot and all of them have been brilliantly made. The Hours and The Reader were the ones in between – before he made what I would guess is his best effort to date with Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.
And then we go onto multiple screenplay Oscar nominee called Eric Roth. Look at the list of movies he has to his credit. Benjamin Button, Munich, Ali, The Insider, Horse Whisperer & the mother of all – the one that got him Uncle Oscar – Forrest Gump. But the amount of meat provided by Jonathan S Foer’s 2005 Novel of the same name was sufficient enough to give yet another brilliant effort.
After these 2 big names one cannot help but look at the star cast and be quite certain that you are in for a really good movie when you look at names such as Tom “whatever I touch turns to gold” Hanks and Sandra “why was all that talent hidden to date” Bullock. And lets not forget some more stunning names – so what if their roles were not the most meaty – Viola Davis and John Goodman to name two.
But honestly, despite these big names, what will win your hearts in this super poignant drama will be the performances of one 14 year old who plays a 9 year old and another at the other end of the spectrum @ 82 years of age at the time of release. Thomas Horn plays the role of the young Oskar Schell who loses his father Thomas (Tom Hanks) thanks to a maniac who masterminded a couple of planes into an identical pair of landmark buildings in New York.
Oskar happens to walk into his father’s closet, over a year after the “worst” day and finds a key inside a blue vase. Thinking that it is a message left by his father, he decides to track down the lock that the key is meant for. He traces down over 400 people with the surname of Black across the 5 boroughs of New York. As he goes through the gut wrenching activity, he meets a variety of people and also makes friends with someone who is staying with his grandmother who is called The Renter (Max Von Sydow) for lack of any other word.
Ensure that you carry as much of tissue paper as possible for this guaranteed tear jerker. Not only because of a brilliant storyline but also because of some stunning performances – one from a teenager and another from an octogenarian. 8 on 10 for certain.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2238291481/
And then we go onto multiple screenplay Oscar nominee called Eric Roth. Look at the list of movies he has to his credit. Benjamin Button, Munich, Ali, The Insider, Horse Whisperer & the mother of all – the one that got him Uncle Oscar – Forrest Gump. But the amount of meat provided by Jonathan S Foer’s 2005 Novel of the same name was sufficient enough to give yet another brilliant effort.
After these 2 big names one cannot help but look at the star cast and be quite certain that you are in for a really good movie when you look at names such as Tom “whatever I touch turns to gold” Hanks and Sandra “why was all that talent hidden to date” Bullock. And lets not forget some more stunning names – so what if their roles were not the most meaty – Viola Davis and John Goodman to name two.
But honestly, despite these big names, what will win your hearts in this super poignant drama will be the performances of one 14 year old who plays a 9 year old and another at the other end of the spectrum @ 82 years of age at the time of release. Thomas Horn plays the role of the young Oskar Schell who loses his father Thomas (Tom Hanks) thanks to a maniac who masterminded a couple of planes into an identical pair of landmark buildings in New York.
Oskar happens to walk into his father’s closet, over a year after the “worst” day and finds a key inside a blue vase. Thinking that it is a message left by his father, he decides to track down the lock that the key is meant for. He traces down over 400 people with the surname of Black across the 5 boroughs of New York. As he goes through the gut wrenching activity, he meets a variety of people and also makes friends with someone who is staying with his grandmother who is called The Renter (Max Von Sydow) for lack of any other word.
Ensure that you carry as much of tissue paper as possible for this guaranteed tear jerker. Not only because of a brilliant storyline but also because of some stunning performances – one from a teenager and another from an octogenarian. 8 on 10 for certain.
Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2238291481/
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