Grudge Match

One look at Peter Segal’s filmography and you would never think that he could run a movie that is not a comedy – Anger Management, The Longest Yard, Get Smart, Naked Gun 33 1/3 – all of them more comic than serious.  Maybe that is the reason imdb lists Grudge Match as a Sports Comedy.  What I can tell you is that any element of comedy was ersatz, more often than not.

Autumn Blood (Austria)

Log onto www.imdb.com and search for Autumn Blood – well, lemme save you the trouble - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2085752/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1.  Notice the roles against each member of the cast.  It gets as simple as that to make a movie right? The Girl, The Boy, The Butcher, The Mayor, The Hunter, The Friend, The Social Worker – how cool is that!!!! Who needs names right?

The Selfish Giant

Statutory Warning – If you don’t understand the way upcountry Brits speak  English then The Selfish Giant is a movie you should watch with subtitles only.  I am not an expert in language and cannot tell you what the exact accent was but it would suffice to say that I was struggling to keep up with what the cast was speaking.  Sadly, the MAMI team didn’t think it worthwhile to keep them on; TSG is a really good movie.

Inside Llewyn Davis

All Coen Brothers fans in the house raise your hands!!!! And once you have done that, check your list of movies to confirm that you have seen Inside Llewyn Davis.  A few of us (about a 500 I am guessing) were lucky enough to see the movie at the Mumbai International Film Festival.  For the rest, PVR Director’s Rare has been kind enough to release it after several delays – 10^th January 2014 is the day.

TimePass (TP) (Marathi)

Ravi Jadhav is one of the reasons for Marathi cinema seeing a renaissance of sorts over the past few years.  From Natarang to Balak Palak (BP) and now TimePass (TP).  He has clearly indicated repeatedly that it doesn’t take mainstream “commercially” acceptable cinema to be commercially viable.  More power to him I say because this is the kind of cinema that audiences should be exposed to and not slapstick sleazy cinema.

Mr Joe B. Carvalho

I write this review with no prejudice whatsoever to anyone or anything.  In fact let me clarify at the outset that I love Arshad Warsi and Soha Ali Khan.  I have been a fan of Javed Jaffrey as well for decades now.  And needless to say Vijay Raaz is one of the finest actors that India has produced in a long long time – one with a superb voice as well.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

And it is turning out to be a great start to Hollywood in India for 2014 – much like last year.  But I guess that’s what happens when you release movies made in 2013 in the first month of the year.  So to that extent it doesn’t count.  What counts however is that for the first time I have seen Ben Stiller executing a role that doesn’t involve any slapstick comedy.

The Wolf of Wall Street

WARNING - WHILE THE MOVIE IS MAINSTREAM IT HAS A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF SEXUAL CONTENT AND DRUG ABUSE AND FOUL LANGUAGE - THIS DESPITE THE CENSOR BOARD'S BEST EFFORTS TO CHOP AS MUCH AS THEY COULD.  DO NOT WATCH IF YOU HAVE RESERVATIONS ABOUT THESE ISSUES.

When you have 2 of the biggest names in Hollywood coming together for the fifth time in a decade, you usually wait with bated breath for the first sign from people who are more fortunate to have seen before you.  You wait to hear if this one is remotely as good as the previous ones – Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island and now The Wolf of Wall Street – the 5^th Time Leo DiCaprio and Scorcese have come together.

47 Ronin

A Samurai without a master or one who has lost his master’s privilege was as good as one without a home i.e. a wandering man.  Loosely translated, in Japanese, it meant “wave man” or Ronin – How's that for a piece of trivia to begin 2014 with.  Although I ended 2013 with the preview of 47 Ronin, you will be able to catch up with it only from the 3^rd January 2014.  A decent watch I must say.

Death At A Funeral

This was my way of ringing in 2014.  Once we had decided to spend NY Eve at home, the choice of a movie had zeroed down to a comedy.  The last thing I wanted was to ring in NY 2014 with a sad movie – no matter how well it was made.  And in my not so limited collection – I could easily pick Death At A Funeral as one of the top 5 British Comedies (with all due respect, the Americans make slapstick ;)).