Frozen (Animation 2013)

Monster’s University (Pixar), Epic (TCF), Turbo (Dreamworks), Planes (DisneyToon) and we have our 5^th nomination from the year for next year’s Academy Awards in the category – Feature Film (Animated).  MU and Epic need not feel worried about their place in the nominations since there is nothing else due this year.  Unless of course the Academy decides to pick only 3 instead.

Singh Saab The Great

The Anil Sharma-Sunny Deol association started with Gadar – Ek Prem Katha, over 10 years back.  2 movies (Apne – 2007 with the entire family) later they have come together yet again to give us a Punjabi-Hindi Sunny Paaji potboiler that has upgraded the Dhhai kilo ka haath to a Saade Teen kilo ka haath (2.5 kg hand to a 3.5 kg hand – in a crude translation).  They follow it up by calling it a 1.25 crore (125 million) strong hand with a reference to our burgeoning population. Corny reference in a totally corny movie.

Bullett Raja

Tigmanshu Dhulia is associated with hard hitting intense movies that have really solid dialogues and more importantly a really solid story.  Bullett Raja ticks most of the boxes but at the end of the day it is nothing we haven’t seen before.  The narration, the overall feel of the story, the performances and even the music had “seen that” written all over it from frame 1 (technically frame 1 + 10 mins coz I came in late) to finish.

Gori Tere Pyaar Mein!

Half of the Gori Tere Pyaar Mein!’s battle against me was already lost when I realized a couple of minutes into the movie that it has been set significantly in THE VILLAGE.  Now, now people, don’t get me wrong.  I have nothing against villages.  But I have a lot against one particular village.  For those who know me, this particular village is also known as – BENGALURU.  I call it the largest village in the world.

The Shining

The Shining was one of Kubrick’s last movies.  To be precise, it was 3^rd to last.  After The Shining, Kubrick made Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut.  By then, Kubrick had dabbled with all sorts of genres – Thriller (The Killing), War (Fear & Desire), Dark Comedy (Dr. Strangelove), SciFi (2001) – you name it.  The only one conspicuously missing was Horror.  And what a movie The Shining turned out to be.

Last Vegas

When you have Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline and Robert DeNiro together, you know that you have to make a beeline to the nearest screen that is showing the movie.  Now this is a guaranteed formula for success because you know that whatever is written in the script, these guys will ensure that it doesn’t look bad even if the scriptwriter has tried is best to make it look horrible.

Luckily for us, Dan Fogelman (Cars, Cars 2, Tangled, Bolt) is a good scriptwriter.  He maintains his style that you may have seen in feature films (not animated) like Crazy Stupid Love.  So we have funny situations that are backed with a flavor of slapstick but for some reason, seem better than just tasteless one liners.  So now all John Turtletaub had to do was get the casting right and let the actors do their thing.

Billy (Michael Douglas), Paddy (Robert De Niro), Archie (Morgan Freeman) and Sam (Kevin Kline) are best of buddies since they were 6 years old somewhere in the 50s.  Now, 58 years later, Paddy is mourning the loss of his childhood sweetheart and wife.  Archie is divorced and struggling with a bad heart and is under house arrest.  Sam is totally in love with his wife of 40 years but has several replaced bones in his body.

Billy is a successful business man of sorts who has stayed single all these years.  He is nearly 70 and decides that the best time to get hitched is now.  So at a good friend’s funeral, he is giving a eulogy and suddenly decides to deviate from that and propose to his girlfriend.  The problem – Lisa (Bre Blair) is old enough to be his daughter – maybe even his granddaughter (I know I am stretching it).

The four friends decide to gang up for old time’s sake by giving a bachelor party to Billy.  And therefore the movie is titled on a thought that it could well be their Last party ever.  Ergo – Las(t) Vegas.  Corny as it may seem, that is what you are also in for in the movie. Don’t walk in expecting some stunning one liners that you will remember for the rest of your life.

Walk in expecting moments that you could associate with old men having a blast would do.  So you have Archie who gets lucky at the blackjack table and converts $15K to $100K+.  Their greatest party follows.  With the best suite in the house, pool parties galore, alcohol that is flowing all over the place – all building towards a concoction that is almost like Hangover meeting The Bucket List.

Last Vegas is a must watch for fans of these 4 brilliant actors of our time.  Go with an open mind.  Watch like it is your last movie and I can bet that you will enjoy it.  It isn’t the best work from these four by a country mile.  But it will bring a smile to your faces.  6 on 10 is my verdict.  Make it a part of your weekend.

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3383666713/?ref_=tt_ov_vi

Machete Kills

If a movie makes it to an International Film Festival, then there has to be something of at least academic interest in it.  Right? Machete Kills was obviously put into the Mumbai International Film Festival with that intent in mind.  But it turned out to be an absolutely brilliant entertainer from Frame 1.

Machete

Before you start reading this review, you have to first go through this link to understand the entire genesis of the Machete series.  This is a 10 minute video of forthcoming attractions that appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s controversial movie called Grindhouse in 2007 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luFC1jxmq9c.  Have a dekko.

Rajjo

So Vishwas Patil is a debutante director.  Yet another one.  Sigh.  But 2 things make it worse.  The photograph of Shri Vishwas Patil doesn’t indicated in any manner that he is a day younger than 40.  And so the question pops up – has he directed, say Marathi cinema and this is a first in Bollywood? Which brings us to the 2^nd thing that makes it worse – here is yet another director who believes he can dish out anything and get away with it.

Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram Leela

Extravagant. Lavish. Profuse. Gargantuan. Giant. Excessive. Vivid. Rich. Intense. Passionate. Erotic. Sensual. Sinister. Scheming. Blatant. Luxurious. Romantic. Foolish. Stupid. Tragic. Brilliant. Beautiful. Bright. Radiant. Lustrous. Lambent. Splendour. Flagrant. Bold. Dramatic. Stretched. Exciting. Busy. Sharp. Inspired. Massive. Magical. Emotional. Amazing. Superb.

Insidious – Chapter 2

I usually make it a point to see an earlier part in case I haven’t when the sequel releases.  Insidious Chapter 2 is actually more of a logical extension form Insidious that finished with a clear indication of a possible 2^nd part.  Much like Chapter 2 finishes with “Oh My God”!!! Clearly an indication that Chapter 3 maybe around the corner.  Will it show the same levels of improvement that 2 did over 1? With James Wan clearly indicating that he doesn’t want to be involved with horror any more, I don’t know.

Insidious

Insidious – working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way.  Intended to entrap.  Beguiling but harmful. The quality of being designed to entrap.  Subtle and cumulative harmfulness (especially of a disease).  These are the definitions of the name of this horror flick that I dug out from various sources on the net.

Sooper Se Ooper

To Vir Das I would like to say this – Having been a stand-up comedian for the time that you have been, one would have guessed that you would understand the fine line between a really bad script and an acceptable comedy.  Why then would you justify your choice of actually doing a movie that was as bad a script that it could have been.

Mickey Virus

For the rest of the week, I will be catching up with reviews that are horribly delayed thanks to a really tough 3 weeks.  But now that I have the time, we will have a minor flurry of them starting with a decent movie called Mickey Virus that I had the opportunity to catch up with on my way back from Pilani in the capital a couple of weeks back.

Huff! - It's Too Much

There is a dialogue in the trailer of Huff! - It's Too Much that goes something like this, “Agar mujhe girna hi hai toh mein pyaar mein kyun giroon? Chocolate mein kyun nahin”? (If I have to fall, why should I fall in love? Why not into Chocolate?).  Unfortunately for me, I saw the trailer after I had booked my tickets for the show.  I had a choice, mind you, to not go for the show but my curiosity got the better of me.

Free Birds

And after all kinds of animals have been utilized and probably even done to death, it had to be the turn of the humble Turkey (the bird) to be part of an animation.  And with Thanksgiving somewhere in the near future (28^th November 2013 in the US) and in the not so distant past (14^th October 2013 in Canada), it was an opportune time to release a Turkey animation movie.

Thor : The Dark World

In my review of Thor (http://kartikr.blogspot.in/2011/05/thor.html), around 2.5 years back, I had gushed and gushed and if that wasn’t sufficient, gushed even more about my love for Natalie Portman.  I must say that she still makes me go weak in my legs but the “love” has moved on.  Sorry Natalie – I couldn’t get myself to wait for you indefinitely ;).

Satya 2

This was my write up about The Attacks of 26/11 http://kartikr.blogspot.in/2013/03/the-attacks-of-2611.html.  Notice the part where I state, “But of late, RGV's intense movies are restricted to those to study the History of Cinema. With little or no production value”.  Unfortunately with Satya 2, RGV breaks new ground.  He gives you a masterpiece that will be used in film schools for a long time to come.

Krrish 3

Let me be honest at the very outset. I walked into Krish 3 expecting a disaster. In fact I was hoping that it would be a disaster. So much that I am beginning to believe in that dialogue from Om Shanti Om, "agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho toh poori kayanat usse tumse milani ki koshish mein lag jaati hai" (if u sincerely wish for something then the universe conspires to ensure that you get it).