Raining Ninjas

Expect high octane hand to hand combat with ample servings of blood and gore – possibly the first movie that is singularly focused on the Ninja for a while (leaving aside cameos in Kill Bill and Batman Begins) in Ninja Assassin. The story is stereotypical – a trainingground for Ninja assassins tucked away somewhere, a set of orphans in captivity being trained to be the soldiers of one of the nine ninja clans. Protagonist Raizu (Rain) loses love and questions the autocratic ways of the master, and leaves the clan - a battle with the clan ensues in Germany (why Germany??) and later spills over to the homestead. An eminently watchable no-holds-barred action movie with some brilliant combat sequences and consistently good cinematography

14/20

(Indian) Gangs of New York

The theme is hackneyed now. We have not forgotten Khuda Ke Liye nor New York. The cast may not be the best in the world. But what is remarkable about Kurbaan is the Indian cast fitting in seamlessly into what is a pure Western milieu – the archetypal American suburb. And for a Hindi movie, the pace of the movie can also leave you breathless. Saif Ali Khan courts Avantika (Kareena Kapoor) on Delhi campus, trails her to the States. A series of revelations later, Avantika finds herself, along with eponymous righteous and recently bereaved (of colleague and fiancé Dia Mirza) Muslim journalist Ayaaz (Vivek Oberoi) find themselves in a race against time to prevent an attack on the subways of New York. The performances are fair (Saif Ali Khan) to excellent (Kiron Kher) and the disturbing undercurrents of life in the American suburbia are well-portrayed

13/20

Reserving Judgement (Day)

Roland Emmerich of Independence Day, The Day after Tomorrow and Godzilla fame brings another doomsday magnum opus that seems to be pieced together from all three, with a few dollops from say Volcano and the likes. 2012 starts well and the heightening agitation of Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) as events start unfolding that give credence to barely believable theories, and the ame along with the sense of urgency of young scientist Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) are quite well depicted. In fact it is quite remarkable that the failure of this movie is identical to that of The Day After Tomorrow - a lack of believability in the emotional content - beyond the fact that Jackson Curtis does appear to be attached to his kids, every other interpersonal relationship in the movie for some reason appears contrived - and this is just why all of the one hour or so oard the ark is quite excruciating. In summary, it will be difficult for Emmerich/ Hollywood to keep attracting audiences to these doomsday sagas with ever-improving special effects alone - the movie needs to hold together with genunie human emotion - the rest is just programming

12/20

Uncharted Waters

..And every instinct in me tells me to warn you – don’t watch Blue (Hindi). The plot is non-existent. The players are bland and stereotypical. Words cannot describe Katrina Kaif’s lack of emoting ability. Akshay Kumar’s need to acknowledge that he is growing old. Sanjay Dutt’s insult to an action movie by landing up with a devil-may-care resplendent paunch. The fact is – the movie is spectacular. The diving scenes are as good as any (only minor shades of difference from a full blown Hollywood diving movie like Out of The Blue). This is allegedly one of the most expensive Bollywood movies ever produced, it is surely one of the most spectacular. And it is great to see that Indians look at home in what is an out-and-out adventure sport in an international location. Do not miss this movie – the visual spectacle (the Bollywood stars being at home in the water, not the marine life) is quite extraordinary

13.5/20

This is Not It

How much better a documentary could Michael Jackson - This is It have been! Perhaps the makers of the documentary, instead of being in a hurry to cash in on the inevitable interest following the demise of the superstar, should have spent some time and got this one right. While the lack of a voice-over lends authenticity, there is nothing in the documentary that shows any facet of Michael’s personality, nor does it show or purport to show any change in the superstar. What of the clashes with the media, the eccentricisms that finally culminated in the allegations that destroyed his life, the competition and the peers that he left behind. While this documentary is ostensibly oriented around a set of backstage shows in London, the fact of the matter is that this one could have made much more of its subject matter, especially given its timing

8.5/20

Come Confess

As Chuck Barris, Sam Rockwell given the performance of a lifetime, in this intriguing blend of cinema noir foreseeing the coming of the brooding graphic novel movies a half decade or so later, and blending it with a scathing indictment of the travesty that is modern television, in Confessions of A Dangerous Mind. The skewed moralities of adolescent sex, killing without compunction for the greater good of the United States, the numerous women and the singular lack of attachment and the double-crosses, and the overarching peddling of the “lowest common denominator” of reality TV brings to the audience a movie that swings from passion to global intrigue to self-flagellation. A movie that leaves me reflecting on the overarching question of seeking our own individual identities and the eventual price of fame

14/20

Sleepless Dreams

Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale is a haunted man. Of horrifyingly thin visage, tormented by illusions indistinguishable from reality, he has not slept in a year. He tries to come to terms with the present – but strange visitations, bodies in the freezer that do not exist, chased by cars that belong to him, visits to the coffee shop and the lady there, and her son and which of them is real – it is all difficult to make out what is reality and what are, well, the dreams of The Machinist. This is a role that has absolutely no resemblance to anything that I have seen from Christian Bale, and clearly shows just how great an actor this Hollywood find-of-the-decade is. A cathartic movie, that makes clear that the Machinist did sleep at times, and all the visitations were really about his darkest fears and greatest regrets

14.5/20