Max Wahlberg

Max Payne offers little original amidst a plethora of big screen adaptations of popular animated characters and games. These are interesting times in Mumbai (the siege of the Taj ended yessterday) - the themes that stick in one's mind are clearly that of individual courage, loss of family and of course the ubiquitous floors of scyscrapers exploding and burning. Perhaps not the best of times to review a movie, or watch one in a hall - cant remember the last time when I saw less than twenty people in a Sunday evening primetime movie. To continue, Mark Wahlberg exudes character as always and brings his force of personality to bear on an otherwise hackneyed plot of catharsis and revenge in a Batman meets V is for Vendetta like dark urban milieu. Kudos to John Moore (Flight of the Phoenix, Behind Enemy Lines) for some really smart cinematography.

Chronic Persistent Hunger

Ambition drives men to suceess but very few know where to draw the line. In Woody Allen’s Match Point, Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) does not know where the line is, paradoxically for a successful tennis player. Lust and betrayal draw him from the very edge of success and fortune to a terminal outcome. Not quite game set and match. A strong drama but with the exception of the lead, the performances are not convincing

Game Cars

Another game adaptation, Death Race locks hardened criminals on an island in a gladiatorial car chase combat. The movie would have been quite intolerable except for decent performances by Jason Statham and Joan Allen. Not a movie to proactively go out and seek unless it, well, comes and hits you much like the cars here

Moneyed Family
Nicolas Cage perhaps finds it more difficult to portray an investment banker than A Family Man. And therein lies a tale. The conflict was all too real, the first part of the movie unconvincing. No, Nicholas Cage does not come across as a man who works through 13 barren years and Christmas Day with nary a whimper. While a pleasant movie as movies go, herein lies its big failure – the protagonist does not transcend both roles - investment banker and family man - equally convincingly. Not quite a great movie

Banker Jeykll and Hyde

In American Psycho, Christian Bale shows early promise that for some reason went into limbo for half a decade. A close adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel, it shows an investment banker’s continuous struggle with himself to eliminate the demons within that have zero tolerance for failure, lack of refinement, tolerance for the success of others. The ending is one of the most tantalizing I have seen on film – were the ghosts real or of the mind? Unilke say Wall Street or Boiler Room this is not a movie that has anything to do with the world of finance per se. Perhaps the leitmotif is – we all hate various aspects of our lives – do we hate them enough to destroy them at any cost? An intriguing book and movie, as they are gory

Planet Eccentric
It is difficult to comprehend a movie that is eccentric even by Quentin Tarantino/ Robert Rodriguez standards. Planet Terror makes the cut and more. Suffice to say that you would not have seen a movie that is anything like this. Part Resident Evil style action cameos, part Harold and Kumar meets Zohan style incongruous humour, you will never know what to expect next in this movie. It would all be very amusing if it was not, in addition, so in-your-face gross as well. After watching this movie, it would really be difficult to take any zombie movie seriously. Not that any of us ever did.

The Eagle hasn’t Landed

America is threatened by terrorism and this time the threat emanates from within its own borders. Part science fiction and part action flick, Eagle Eye delivers. The movie is fast paced and that takes care of the fact that it is barely believable, because you will not pause to think. Shia LaBeouf does not hurt his progression as one of the rising stars of Hollywood, while not accreting much to the same either. There are remarkable moments but on the whole the extent of power attributed to Eagle Eye is a little over the top. Good entertainment

Can you Keep a Secret?

Jon Voight’s moment of triumph in The Odessa File is the beads of sweat as Herr Kolb works at a (short-lived) infiltration of the ODESSA. An old style tale of intrigue, and the second of my day since Quantum of Solace, this is investigative journalism sixties style ie, with all the intensity but sans the glamour. A truly talented actor and easy to see the reasons for the sustained long career

Lend me your Ears

Eccentric but engaging, Noise takes a man’s fight against the urban menace through an illogical path to an acceptable end. This is a twisted vigilante role that steers between self-remonstrance, provocation, action and then brushes with the law and collapse of family. The remarks on Hegel, sex and promiscuity make this a movie about free will and personal space rather than a limited movie on individual activism. And on the activism – yes, our man does work the court to a positive outcome on his pet peeve. So there.

Quantum of Entertainment

The James Bond movie is measured to a near impossible benchmark. Literally anything could kill the next installment – too much violence or too little, plot too weak or too abstruse, the lead too stiff or too much swagger, too little that is new or too far from the traditional Bond elements. Thankfully, Quantum of Solace, like Casino Royale and unlike the Brosnan editions, does not look like a directorial tightrope trying to manage all these elements. The story is predictable but taut and watchable. The villains are malicious without being over the top. The women are attractive without being come hither. There are two elements of the movie that I could not help noticing. First, Americans being portrayed as outright villains, which is rare. Second, the Bond girl simply takes his leave and them parting ways somewhat Western-style and not Bond-style. This is a good movie in its own right, and as long as you stop running comparatives in your head in the theater, you will do all right.

Cant believe I Watched This

If I were to sum up Funny Games in two words it would be unmitigatedly negative. Terrifying in its casual malice, the sequence of events shocks beyond the expectations of a rational audience. In some odd way this movie reminded me of Apocalypto – whatever can go wrong does – except that Apocalypto ends on a redemptive note while this movie simply leaves you staring and the credits and wondering what just happened. A blend of gorno (Saw, Hostel etc) and the traditional horror movie elements of isolation will leave you gasping at the end. If you know how this movie ends, you probably would not want to watch it. Naomi Watts anchors a difficult role, while Brady Corbet (Peter) and Michael Pitt (Paul) are creepy. Definitely not one for casual family viewing.

Half past Dead

A restless soul seeking to convey to the living her last moments. A woman in search of the truth. A man trying to escape a past. Shutter is predictable, but engaging. The Japanese horror genre has caught on well and this is a good example of a well-paced movie with a strong and unexpected twist near the end

Reality Radio

Good Morning Vietnam is largely classified as a "funny" movie. Apart from the humour in the dialogue, there is very little that is funny about the movie. This is an alternative take on Vietnam from the jungles and trenches, and shows a rapidly escalating conflict through the eyes of an observer who is mirthful, engaged and aware. What better way of bringing out the humanity of war than the fine line between friendship and terrorism, the impossibility of some relationships, and the simple poignancy of teaching baseball and colloquial English to a largely deadpan group of Vietnamese? The fact that there is so much concerted effort to suppress Adrian Cronauer's (Robin Williams) brand of humour only underscores the importance of his message. In a time when the world debates US engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan, this is an important movie to watch and understand the simple realities of a zone of conflict.