Fixed Gear, Steel Frame, No Brakes

 

 

It is hard to come up with a genuinely interesting and never-a-dull-moment script centered around the all-too-familiar New York, and car chases. So, Director David Koepp changed the game – and speeded up things by making them slower – on bicycle, in fact. Profiling the best-in-class NY bicycle messenger Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), on a Premium Rush – a high-priority dispatch – with a little help from girlfriend Vanessa (Dania Ramirez) and arch rival Marco (Sean Kennedy), Wilee outruns everything in sight – cars, people, other bicycles, and even stationary objects – as he helps one Chinese student Nima (Jamie Chung) re-unite with her daughter. Get ready for an unexpected rush from this under-rated movie

13/20

Brave Daughters and Bears

Mothers wish the best for their daughters, and the road to alienating children is almost always paved with good intentions. And thus it was with Elinor (Emma Thompson), mother of Merida (Kelly McDonald) of the Clan DunBrock, in the matter of a suitor for Merida. Little does Elinor know that Merida is a girl of her own mind, and the latter promptly rendezvous-es with a witch who gives Merida the means to transform her mother into a large black bear. The rest of the movie is a hilarious race against time to reverse the spell linor before the second sunrise (at which time the said spell becomes permanent), even while several clans - none too fond of bears - hunt the mother of the clan, in a glorious misunderstanding. Brave is one for the children from the inimitable Pixar, while not too juvenile to not have appeal for the parents

13/20

Wild Child

Rose (Emily Blunt) and her charming, thieving ways, tame the redoubtable Viktor (Bill Nighy), hired assassin with many scalps to his credit. When Rose pulls off a sale of a fake painting to one Ferguson (Rupert Everett), the latter hires Viktor to take her out – the assassin way, of course. Hilarious escapades with an ensemble cast in tow ensue, and the ending is not quite what the hired hitman’s doting mother Louisa (Eileen Atkins) might have liked. Quite amusing, the Wild Target and pursuer herein are fairly evenly matched

11.5/20

The Hopping Prince

 

 

 

“See something you like?”, asks the captive Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) coyly, as she hides the dagger that can reverse time, from our protagonist, the adoptive Prince Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal). Very spunky and a little flirty, Tamina however does not steal the show from Prince Dastan, who pulls off the near-impossible – exposes a great treachery wrought upon his adoptive father King Sharaman (Ronald Pickup), defeats the king’s treacherous sons Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbell), and becomes the new regent of the kingdom. With no little help from the eponymous acrobatic skills of the Prince of Persia (The Sands of Time) and a little timely intervention from the dagger than can reverse time. Quite entertaining, and never a dull moment, this one went by almost unnoticed

 

12/20

Far Above the Misty Mountains Cold

 

Today, after a decade and then some some, a troop of all-too-familiar dwarves entered my house. Led by a wizard, of course. With them, I left the comforts of the Shire, and embarked on an adventure. Where, every turn of the page, in years bygone, had brought new experiences to cherish. We headed out, saw off trolls that had strayed afar, got much-needed albeit much despised help in Rivendell. We headed out from there, to repossess our Kingdom from Smaug. Again we saw off goblins and orcs, with a little help this time from the Eagles. And thus, with The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey – we are on our way. To a trilogy that is – however strangely – lagging LOTR – but so far, and as one has grown to expect, equally fascinating, overwhelming, and quite peerless in the world of movies. The unlikely combination of JRR Tolkein and Peter Jackson have created an alternate reality for me, something that I cannot quite put in the words of a bland little movie review

17.5/20

Recall, Run

Post World War III, the great oppressor of history – the United Federation of Britain (UFB) lords it over the Colony (loosely, today’s Australia) – and the latter send a daily retinue of workers to the former through a subterranean transport system referred to as the Fall. Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), a nondescript worker from the Colony with an inexplicably stunning wife Lori (Kate Beckinsale), decides to go deeper into his mind to find an escape from daily monotony and a distraction from disturbing dreams that could well be memories. Quaid enters virtual reality – through Total Recall – as a secret agent. And here is where Quaid’s life blurs between fiction and reality – and even love interest Melina (Jessica Biel) and access to none other than Matthias (Bill Nighy) – the kingpin of the Resistance – could well be elements in a very elaborate virtual reality experience. Unlike its predecessor 22 years ago, this edition Total Recall leaves the viewer in some doubt as to fiction and reality, even as the action is as immersive as it could possibly be

13.5/20

Sick, telling

The one word that leaps to mind while thinking of Criminal Minds (TV Series) is “disturbing”. And you need look no further than just a couple of episodes of this successful TV Series to figure out why. Perhaps the written word will not suffice, but here is my take. Hotchner (Thomas Gibson), with second-in-command David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) leads a highly qualified team constituting profilers with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico, Virginia, to solve crimes involving serial killings – usually of a violent, degenerate, and large-scale nature – in locations all over USA. Aiding them is the wonder woman Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness), a genius at drawing associations between seemingly unconnected events, with the aid of a little technology. Executed with thoroughness, that does not flag between episodes – and I saw dozens – Criminal Minds is a must-watch – if, of course, you want to stomach it

15.5/20

Action Unlimited

Do we really need to get into the script here? The irrepressible Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) with his equally irrepressible one-liners. Captain America (Chris Evans) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) shoulder to shoulder in their fight against evil – well, at least till and when the Hulk is is one of his moods. The irrepressible Thor (Chris Helmsworth) and the gorgeous Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) round off the superhero set. The mission – to stop Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in his tracks as he hunts for the Tesseract – a source of great and dangerous power. Never a dull moment (would have been a travesty with this cast), and an all-out commercial entertainer, The Avengers, needless to say, was a resounding success of 2012

13/20

In a puff of smoke

… Like much of the weed in the movie, goes my respect for Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis. How could two Hollywood A-listers be caught dead in a movie like Ted? Here is an apology for a movie that I could tolerate for all of 33 minutes. So, John (Mark Wahlberg) was a lonely boy, and a shooting star grants him the wish of a lifetime – a talking – and soon-to-be-celebrity teddy bear (Seth McFarlane) for company. Novelty and a quality relationship fade with time, however. As John grapples with a dead-end job, the neither-here-nor-there relationship with Lori (Mila Kunis) that is on for all of four years, and the viewer is treated to more hash and hookers, and outright grossness, I decided it was time to can the movie and trash it here. No matter how it ends, jokes about Parkinson’s are not my idea of humor – in any form

7/20

Hotel Zing

Count Dracula (Adam Sandler) has made the perfect fortress - Hotel Transylvania - as a hideaway for darling daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) to protect her from the much-hated humans. Hotel Transylvania is a home away from home for many monsters, seeking refuge and safety from the world of humans. Enter Johnny (Adam Samberg), an intrepid backpacker (human, of course), who stumbles upon the hotel, and, after the first few bouts of surprise, completely settles in with the monster crowd. And with none more so than with Mavis - and the two start feeling the much-elusive zing in no time. What will it take for Count Dracula and the monster brood to leave the past behind, and to bless the unlikely relationship? Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky of the unforgettable Dexter's Laboratory fame, Hotel Transylvania is a fast-paced animation flick that will endear adults and children alike with its well-developed monster cast

15.5/20

Once more into the Fray…

 

 

In times when one’s existence in the real world is troubled, one watches a movie like The Grey. Simplicity itself. Ottway (Liam Neeson) leads six survivors of a plane crash – a rough and tough oil drilling crew – across the wilderness of Alaska towards possible safety. One by one, the grey wolves pick on them, decimating their numbers, apparently unmitigated by little heroic acts of bravery. So does man trump wolf or vice versa? The Grey simply suggests that it perhaps does not matter – “Once more into the fray. Into the last good fight I'll ever know. Live and die on this day. Live and die on this day” – authored by none other than the director of the movie (Joe Carnahan). Yes, live and die on this day. Based on the novel “Ghost Walker” by Ian Mackenzie Jeffers, The Grey is a stunning movie, elemental and stark. Like life at present – stark and elemental, and live and die on this day ergo, the rest of one's life

 

14.5/20

Naxalites for Dummies

Whoever knew that the life and times of Naxalites could be summarized in such stirring simplicity? Adil (Arjun Rampal) and Kabir (Bobby Deol) are inseparable friends - Adil being a police officer who is posted to Nandighat to bring a Maoist uprising under control. Lo and behold - Kabir, upon the request of Adil, nearly effortlessly infiltrates the Maoists and successfully provies intelligence that allows the Indian police to gain an upper hand in the conflict. Unsurprisingly, Kabir is not only moved by the stark reality of the marginal existence of the Naxalites, he is also besotted by one Naxal woman - Juhi (Anjali Patil). Inevitably, the paths of Adil and Kabir diverge, and move inexorably towards a climactic end. With one of the most unbelievably inane dialogues ever uttered in cinema, Rhea (Esha Gupta) also makes her presence felt ("Sorry Kabir"). Prakash Jha could have blazed a trail - Chakravyuh is at best ridden with holes. And that too on such a burning issue. Tch

9/20

One for the Soul

If Crash and Babel tried to - and, to much commercial and critical acclaim, did succeed in doing - work the theme of interconnected lives, Cloud Atlas takes it more than a step further, in interconnecting lives through different times in history. So it is that we find that an act of kindness in the South Pacific circa 1850, a musical piece (Cloud Atlas) conceived and composed by a penurious musical genius, an incident involving nuclear safety in the 1970s, the strange events in the life of a spurned publisher in England circa 2012, a clone's coming of age in Neo Seoul in 2144, and eventually the search and discovery of a better life beyond a bleak post-apocalyptic future - are not just intertwined - in a way, they are sequential. Directors Lana and Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer must be commended for holding it all together in an intelligible and emotionally charged movie. Quite moving, if not quite deep, Cloud Atlas is definitely worth a watch

14.5/20

Lost and Found

For me, Life of Pi was a yo-yo between overt romanticization of vignettes of Indian life and times by a non-Indian author, and a movie that has some seriously profound insights in spite of the same. The quaintness of a zoo in Pondicherry, finding religion, the mystique of Indian dance, the uprooting of a family owing to economic circumstances - all had an overtly lyrical, if not particularly original - aura. Then, suddenly, we find Piscine Molitor Patel aka Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma) - a castaway in the middle of the Pacific ocean - with all his beliefs called into question. Is there a point to overt faith? Can a human and a large carnivore be (to borrow from Star Wars) symbionts? Where does a man who has lost everything find hope, and the will to move on with one's life? Somewhat if not profoundly moving, Life of Pi is about how we are shaped by our bouquet of experiences, and how, from those experiences, one can draw upon great reserves of strength

13.5/20

Phew!

And so The Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn II - brings the series to a close - mercifully. While I do not even profess to understand what the series was all about, it seemed to me that the whole point of this movie was a confrontation between vampires and - you guessed it - more vampires - on a frozen lake. As to what the confrontation is all about - Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) are protecting their child - Renesmee Cullen (Mackenzie Foy) - from the Volturi. Outnumbered but in a tightly knit unit, the remarkable powers of the small resistance are put to a reasonably arduous test. But - nothing extreme. This, you see, is a patchwork romance and beyond a stunningly handsome/ beautiful cast, I suppose the rest is peripheral

9/20

Not so good anymore

 

Left high and dry by a cheating husband –State’s  Attorney Peter Florrick (Chris Noth), wife Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies), decides to resurrect her 13-years-dormant legal career, joining law firm Stern, Lockhart and Gardner as a junior associate, pitted against competition a fraction of her age. With an incredibly complicated and competitive workplace, two children and a mother-in-law with their own complications, the fallout of the husband’s indiscretions, and the feelings towards law firm partner Will Gardner (Josh Charles) to contend with, it appears that just holding it all together will be a challenge for Alicia, let alone excelling. The Good Wife (TV series) holds together the complexity of the workplace, the family and public life splendidly – a TV series to  watch and remember for more than just a while

 

15.5/20

A Lesser Bond

 

 

Skyfall questions the need for a 007 almost from the word go. Knocks him off a train roof – a shot gone astray, and one that goes unrepented – on the outskirts of Istanbul. Dumps him in London, with his eponymous boss M under threat, and a world of clunky gadgetry replaced with the simple elegance of tracking devices and technology. Age and a declining constitution do not help either. Bond picks up his bearings and chases his quarry – agent gone rogue Silva (Javier Bardem) – into Shanghai, and then Macau. And finally back to good old England, where M liberally borrows from Ulyysses and frankly admits that “we are not the strength that in old days moved earth and heaven…” but promises to continue to “strive to seek to find and not to yield”… even as the climactic scenes drift towards the Scottish moors and the hints of a bleak history. Skyfall is interesting – disconcerting at first, because of its deliberate eschewing of flamboyance, but in the end fairly successful at keeping the franchise relevant

 

14.5/20

Theatrical Escape

 

In the 70’s, when the USA was less than popular with the newly anointed Khomeni and the Islamic radicals that had just taken over Tehran, six US nationals find themselves holed up at the Canadian embassy in Tehran. In a one-man mission led by CIA operative Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), the group attempts to flee Tehran under the guise of being a film crew filming a science fiction movie – Argo. So – does the group pull off a near-impossible – and barely sanctioned – escape? Argo may show up the fundamentalists of Iran as less than bright, but that is not the intent, really. A simple and well-dramatized sequence of events makes this movie worth the while

 

13/20

Lost and Found

A movie that is easy to explain! Here comes retired CIA Agent Brian Mills (Liam Neeson) with wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). In come the mafia – and after some accelerated sightseeing of the bazaars of Istanbul – take the wife and daughter hostage. Needless to say, the CIA will trump Albanian rouges no matter how well-trained the latter might be. It is only interesting that the same could possibly include grenades merrily thrown across rooftops in densely populated areas. I recall being mildly entertained while Taken 2 was on, but not much else.

 

10.5/20

Arb ‘em all

 

 

 

Everyone can cut a deal. Well, at least everyone who lives to see the end of the tale. Robert Miller (Richard Gere) is selling his self-made top-of-the-line hedge fund empire. A few hundred million dollars of accounting jugglery owing to some badly placed bets notwithstanding. Robert takes a late-night jaunt with mistress Julie (Laeticia Casta) – and a terrible road accident ensues, leading to Julie’s demise. The rest of the movie is about Robert holding on to the increasingly shaky prospects of keeping his family as well as the proposed sale on course, as the skeletons threaten to tumble out from the cupboard one after another. Arbitrage is an amoral story, perhaps intended to extract some modicum of sympathy for a profession much-maligned of late, in particular for one of its stereotypical New York protagonists

 

12/20  

 

Lease of Life

In the year 2093, seventeen men and women set off on spacecraft Prometheus to the one planetary system that science as well as historical evidence suggests was the origin of mankind. In the meantime, Earth gets struck by a veritable array of natural calamities, which changes the mission of Prometheus to that of finding a new home for mankind. The craft makes a safe landing at the destination planet – but, somehow, the exploratory mission gets struck by tragedy. Not least of all owing to the undercurrents of the real motives of the Weyland Corporation represented by the mission chief Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) and by the actions of cyborg David (Michael Fassbender) that suggest a certain lack of alignment. Will the mission eventually be successful? Or will it get mired in in-fighting and external attack-induced tragedy? Prometheus is well-produced and well-directed, but as far as the genre goes, utterly lacks originality (think Sphere, The Deep, and many many more). A man no less than Ridley Scott should have done a lot more

11/20

Circus of Follies

 

How little it takes to con our very own children! I absolutely detest reviewing low-quality movies – the effort of penning a few lines just does not seem to be worth it! With a mishmash of unattractive characters that form a circus cast winding their way across European cities, chased by gendarmes, and finding their bearings at long last, Madagascar 3 – Europe’s Most Wanted, is strictly children’s fare. And, by that, I mean fare for they-who-will-not-discern-poor-quality rather than a comment on well-produced children’s content. Off with the head of the producers of this one!

 8.5/20

Secret Space

 Of all the secrets of the universe that are shared between Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones), there is one secret that K refuses to share. It appears that the same has to do with the Biglodyan alien invasion and the fact that K failed to contain it. J must travel back in time, to July 15^th 1969 – a day before the lunar quest lifted off from Cape Canaveral – to hook up with the younger Agent K (Josh Brolin) to try to alter the course of human-alien history. If the purpose of Men in Black III was to portray something unexpected, then the same did not happen at all. Save and except for - the secret we spoke of first, and why the same needed to be kept a secret at all from K. Men in Black III remains a watchable franchise as always, and well on its way to many more sequels

13.5/20

Too Big a Cataclysm

Too Big to Fail chronicles the events leading to the Great Recession and the implementation of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Specifically, it chronicles the events from the vantage point of HenryPaulson (William Hurt), the Fed Chairman. In this movie, you will find the hubris of Lehman Chief Dick Fuld (James Woods), the oversized egos of the Street’s leading doyens of Investment Banking, the desperate urgency among the players in question to prevent a total collapse of the financial markets, and the resultant patchwork that may have averted an out-and-out meltdown but the shadows of which persist to this day. Unlike Margin Call which is purely fictitious, Too Big to Fail has a documentary-like quality and (presumably) preserves authenticity while showcasing one of the most turbulent weeks/ fortnights in recent human history

14.5/20

Castle-d it

There are two kinds of people for whom how to kill a person is a constant ponderable. The first is the psycopaths, and that is the kind that Rick Castle (Nathan Fiillion) and Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) – the latter of the New York homicide squad – are after. The second category is the mystery writer – the category to which Rick Castle belongs. Years of writing murder mysteries has lent Castle an unusually fertile imagination that the New York police, after initial unbridled skepticism, find extremely useful in actually solving the unlikeliest of cases. With the set pieces and whodunits of the typical detective genre, interspersed with some hotly denied romantic fellow-feeling between the lead pair, Castle (TV Series) is a pleasure to watch, as light as it is sensible, if not quite dripping with macabre realism

13.5/20

Crosses and Nuts

Battleship Review #2:

Have you played Battleship sitting in a classroom, oblivious to some excruciatingly boring monotone? So, I have emotional attachments to Battleship, and when Hasbro’s eponymous game is turned into a movie, that for me is something to watch. While Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch) makes lieutenant and dates the beautiful Samantha (Brooklyn Decker), the latter is the daughter of Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson) and holds Alex in anything but high regard. The stage is set off the coast of Hawaii for Alex to prove himself, with an alien invasion in response to a terrestrial signal. So, Battleship is about impenetrable force fields and naval set-pieces and one lieutenant finally finding his feet and the courage to pop the question. And Battleship is fun to watch

13/20

Moving to Chaos

Telekinetics – not a word that you come across every day. It refers to the ability to move things at a distance. When the much-disturbed Seattle teenager Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) visits cousin Matt (Alex Russell) and Steve (Michael Jordan) for a rave party, the trio stumble upon a strange blue object in a crevice. Soon thereafter, they discover that their visit to this object has lent them telekinetic abilities. However, do the trio limit themselves to using the same for some well-meaning harmless fun? Well, two of them are in agreement on that, but not Andrew. Bearing much pent-up frustration at a decrepit domestic life including a dying mother and an incessantly abusive father, there is no end to the extent that Andrew will go to, to vent his ire at a world that he feels is decidedly unfair, and, in that vein, any punishment meted upon the world at large through Andrew’s new-found powers is justly deserved. And how does all of this end? Chronicle is one of the few instances where found-film footage, now a hackneyed genre, really comes through well to create a twisted, captivating spectacle of amplified teenage angst

14/20

Sprinter turned Sinner

What an interesting if offbeat movie! Paan Singh Tomar is a dreaded wanted criminal. His antecedents have nothing to do with the same. Here is an erstwhile regular family man who used to be a faithful soldier of the Indian republic and a champion long distance runner, who comes back from war to find that there is a serious land dispute involving his property. The hapless man heads off to the police – and finds them utterly unwelcoming and dismissive of his many sporting exploits. Thus starts a transition from a champion middle distance runner to dacoit – and ruling the Chambals thereafter. But does Paan Singh Tomar eventually escape a highly warped and unfair police  system? Watch this movie, with a sterling performance by the protagonist (Irfaan Khan), to find out.

12/20

Battle Stations

I saw the reviews of Battleship and was duly turned off. The movie turned me back on. In a sentence, I would describe this movie as a light take on alien invasion. The corvettes and destroyers are there aplenty, and the US and Japanese fleets show exemplary celluloid solidarity in seeking to destroy a near-impregnable alien fleet. There is all the Hollywood science in measured doses, but most of the movie just consists of Marine bravado, and much heavy air strikes and shelling. Battleship is an easy watch, and meant to be so. And, with the heavy metal soundtrack overlay and all, one leaves the hall suitably fulfilled by the popcorn fare

13/20

Mellow Drama

With (a few) digs at the Punjabi race, and (many) digs at the Bengali race, Vicky Donor does not impress me, and just serves to irritate, in its reinforcement of stereotypes. Deep down beneath the clichés, there is possibly a meaningful story of some sort – the Delhi boy coerced by a well-meaning head of a fertility clinic to become a sperm donor, the Bengali beauty who works in a bank and gets duly wooed by and wedded to the Punjabi dude, the childless couple in stark contrast to the dozens and dozens of couples that Vicky Arora (Ayushmann Khurrana) aka Vicky Donor has managed to bless with a progeny. But one needs to acknowledge that the movie does bring out successfully the plight of the sperm donor – feted by a few couples who finally see the light of day in parenthood, while derided by immediate family and friends as the pursuer of a vocation that they deeply abhor being associated with socially. But, in the end, for me, the stereotypes predominate – I do not like them and I find them demeaning. And, someday, the very act of portraying stereotypes in Bollywood movies must end

10/20

Heinous

Governess Victoria Winters (Bella Heathcote) arrives in Collinsport, Maine, to attend to the anything-but-usual Collins family – particularly David (Gulliver McGrath) the disturbed young ‘un in the family. The Collins family has a long and illustrious history in Maine – that has been systemically driven to ruins. Enter Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) – long deceased and vampire-at-large. Even as he apologetically quenches his thirst for blood by taking out construction workers, hippies, and unscrupulous resident doctors, the efforts at defeating the enterprise of arch-rival Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green) look like they will come to naught – not least because of the ties that bind Barnabas  and Angelique. So even as Barnabas dalliances between Angelique and Victoria, the new-found strength in the Collins business looks like its demise shall be as meteoric as its resurgence. Or, is it that Josette (Josephine Butler), mother of David and resident ghost of the family, can bring her not inconsiderable supernatural powers to bear? Dark Shadows is an awful movie, does discredit to the likes of Johnny Depp and Eva Green as actors, and one that you definitely do not look forward to viewing

9/20

Missing Person

A harried and heavily pregnant Vidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan) arrives in Kolkata on the eve of the Pujas, and around the second anniversary of an attack on the Kolkata Metro. The mission – to find Arnab Bagchi – a husband who has gone missing since arriving in Kolkata on an assignment. The search for the techie husband proves pretty elusive – neither the National Data Centre, nor the police, seem to be able to unearth any meaningful leads. Vidya keeps at her mission – with the help of one police officer Satyaki (Parambrata Chatterjee) – in Kahaani - a movie that is mildly memorable for two reasons. Firstly, the movie shows more vignettes of Kolkata life than any Hindi movie that I can remember for quite a while. Second, true to the thriller genre, nothing in the movie is quite what it seems and the movie succeeds at the genuine element of surprise

13.5/20

No Hunger

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) offers herself as a tribute to save her sister Primrose (Willow Shields) - and the Girl on Fire makes up in spunk what she lacks in battle training. As her personality manages to curry favor - albeit grudging - with Sponsors - Katniss steps into The Hunger Games - well rated, but perhaps with not the best of odds. Was skeptical at entry about a film adaptation of a teen novel, but was a good watch till the interval, i.e., the anticipatory build-up to the games. Not so the Hunger Games themselves. Contrived and brutal, and not quite Death Race, the movie version is a decent adaptation of a story about children slaughtering each other – and that, unfortunately, in the end reckoning, is rather tasteless

10/20

Work of Art

The much-awarded The Artist uses an age-old medium to convey a rather pertinent protest – the silent movie becomes the canvas for the protest of silent-era movie star George Valentin’s (Jean Dujardin) protest against the talkies. Even as his career falls apart, and protégé Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) rises from strength to strength, it is not Valentin’s irasciable temper and fickle willpower that will be any aid to a comeback. It is, rather, the acts of kindness unforgotten, and a butler – Clifton (James Cromwell) and a dog – that keeps The Artist going. And the great George Valentin finds his way to a new calling, while the audience is quite delighted at the unexpected successful usage of an age-old medium

14.5/20

Greek Gods

Immortals is the story of Theseus (Henry Cavill), born of a peasant mother, but of such strength and resolution that Zeus (Luke Evans) himself believes that the Gods should not intervene in the affairs of men, to save Theseus and the Hellenics, because Theseus alone is capable enough to lead his people. Pitted against Theseus and the Hellenics is the evil Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), with his hordes that show no mercy as they search for the Epirus Bow in their quest to unleash the Titans upon the Gods. With much action drawn straight from Greek Mythology, the story centres around Theseus and the virgin oracle Phaedra (Freida Pinto) and their battle against the evil hordes of Hyperion, who stand steadfast in the way of the latter’s quest to free the wrong half of the Immortals

13/20

The John

It seems that in the age of special effects, we, the humble viewers, are consigned to a life of hackneyed scripts, boring characters, and stereotypical morality plays, even as the director and producer have fun with, well, special effects. Its been a while since I actually got a headache from watching a movie (due respect to Edgar Rice Burroughs, he just ran into a veritable onslaught of similar movies). On to the storyline. John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), an American Civil War Confederate General, is mysteriously transported to Mars. Lo and behold, we are cast into a Civil War in Mars (!) wherein the intrepid John Carter, on account of his sublime jumping skills, finds a leadership role in leading the planet’s good guys, notably the people of Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) against the evil hordes of Matai Shang (Mark Strong). Some of the pioneers of the science fiction genre need to be given an honorable burial, instead of being inflicted upon unsuspecting viewers

9/20

All the Time in the World

In the Orwellian In Time, people stop ageing at 25 – and post that, need to use time as the new currency, for consumption or for continued existence. While in the decrepit ghetto, inflation and daily-wage earning means that running out of time – i.e., dying – is a common occurrence, in other Time Zones, notably New Greenwich, the residents have an abundance of time at hand, in excess of hundreds of years. Enter protagonist Will Salas (Justin Timberlake), and a chance encounter with one tired Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer) in the ghetto, where the latter voluntarily hands Will a hundred years and then some. Will makes the journey to New Greenwich, pursued by the Timekeepers, led by the assiduous Jaeger (Collins Pennie). Will makes his way to the Weis family, and strikes up an unlikely bond with the daughter of the family - Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried) - in the fight for restoring justice in the world. We are not meant to live forever. Indeed

14/20

Moving more than Real Estate Prices

Coming off the likes of The American and the Ides of March, George Clooney as the mild-mannered contemplative Matt King makes you shake your head in disbelief at the sheer breadth of his acting talent. While Matt and his cousins are inheritors of a huge fortune in Hawaii – 25,000 acres of land that the former is likely to sell off for a huge sum of money, Matt’s life is anything but picture-perfect. With deliberate incongruity against the backdrop of beautiful Hawaii, director Alexander Payne shows us Matt’s estranged daughters 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller) and 17-year-old Alex (Shailene Woodley), a comatose and terminally ill wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie), and the overtones of a life full of myriad regrets. The Descendants is about reconnecting with family and friends, and with one’s own values, and coming to terms with one’s own failings – including coming to know that the terminally ill wife was in a relationship, and then vacillating in a whirlwind of emotions between hatred and eventually coming to terms. And that is what the movie is eventually about – coming to terms with one’s realities so that one can shoulder the responsibilities for one’s future. Eventually, this movie does not move the Hawaii real estate market, but will definitely move the viewer. Quite exceptional - the best movie I have seen in a while

16/20

Journey, Too

Vernians – fans of Jules Verne who believe in the Nautilius, the Mysterious Island, Atlantis and the like – have been squarely relegated to the children’s section of the action-adventure genre. Hank (Dwayne Johnson) and stepson Sean (Josh Hutcherson) share a terse relationship – and finally manage to find a connect by finding references to a mysterious island that links the works of no less than RL Stevenson, Jonathan Swift, and (of course) Jules Verne. With a hop step and jump to Pulau, with the blessings of mom Liz (Kristn Davis) of course, the duo find help in helicopter operator Gabato (Luis Guzman) and his delectable daughter Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens). Journey 2 – The Mysterious Island - turns out to be a source of much death-defying adventure – all of it incredulous, and, after a point, none of it interesting. By the time the lot gets off the island, one may be faulted for thinking its not a moment too soon

10/20

Falling off, Falling Apart

Standing on a ledge in the Roosevelt Hotel and ostensibly about to plunge to his death, Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) is a man hellbent on making a point. While the New York mob, hungry for entertainment, periodically cheers on, and the press collect their sound-bytes, Nick – a man wrongfully charged for a crime that he did not commit – is directing brother Joey (Jamie Cassidy) and his girlfriend Angie (Genesis Rodriguez) to commit the very crime for which he was wrongfully imprisoned in the first place. Included in the cast of characters is negotiator Lydia (Elizabeth Banks) and her efforts at making sense of it all even as she tries to put her past track record behind, and businessman David Englander (Ed Harris), the man who was instrumental in sending Nick to prison in the first instance. Movies like Man on A Ledge only serve to show that actors of the caliber of Sam Worthington can hold a movie together in spite of a mediocre storyline

12/20

Lady Fighter

Beauty and.. er.. brawn mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano gets her first break into big-ticket Hollywood with Haywire. In a movie that is rather understated even as it carries the weight of an all-star cast and pans global locales, Mallory Kane (Gina Carano) recounts a mission where ex-boyfriend Kenneth (Ewan McGregor) sends her off to Barcelona, on a mission directed by US Government agent Coblenz (Michael Douglas) and his Spanish contact Rodrigo (Antonio Banderas) to rescue a man in Barcelona. The mission is not quite what it seems – and nor is Mallory's subsequent assignment to pose as the wife of MI6 agent Paul (Michael Fassbender) in Dublin. Mallory has to rely on her own wits and do her own fact-finding in a setup laden with multiple traps. And with the audience on her side, one hopes that she get the better of the nexus in the end. A well-paced introduction to a new action heroine, who will sharpen her thespian skills even as she can clearly hold centre-stage in a tightly scripted Steven Soderbergh thriller

14/20

Weed for All

So Harold (John Cho) is now an established investment banker, married into a rather mercurial Hispanic family with Mr Perez (Danny Trejo) for a father in law. And Kumar (Kal Penn) has not been with Harold for two long years. It takes a Christmas gift to bring them together. And – surprise, surprise, it takes a Christmas tree in flames to keep them together from there on. In the middle of it all, we have babies high on acid, a Neil Patrick Harris in his version of heaven, and a Santa shot down from the skies in the line of duty. And much more besides. While A very Harold and Kumar Christmas is no doubt a one-of-a-kind Christmas movie, and very watchable, in a series of three movies, this installment comes in a reasonably distant third

13/20

Dark City

Two budding American internet entrepreneurs – Sean (Emile Hirsch) and Ben (Max Minghella) - find themselves swindled of their business idea in Moscow. Frustrated and hanging out in a discotheque, they hook up with two female American tourists – Natalie (Olivia Thirlby) and Anne (Rachael Taylor). Things begin to turn really strange at the discotheque, when a power surge takes out the lights. Certain strange electrical beings are descending from space, and annihilating the human race (yawn). What makes The Darkest Hour mildly interesting is the form (or lack of it) of the aliens, and the mildly interesting pseudoscience consisting of Faraday cages, microwave bursts and whatnot. Even as the last remnants of the human race fight back, this is a movie which barely leaves a trace as you leave the theatre
10.5/20

Monkey Business

Having a young one in the house keeps us in touch with old favorites. When the Hotel Majestic in New York has Lord Rutledge (Rupert Everett) and Dunston the trained-thief orang-utang over, the scene is set for hilarious escapades with a truly comic cast. Dunston and his young friend Kyle (Eric lloyd), son of hotel manager and late convert Robert Grant (Jason Alexander), must navigate a path around a quirky set of characters, particularly the authoritarian hotel heiress Mrs Dublow (Faye Dunaway), and not lose their heads – or their lives – while solving the ever-increasing list of strange goings-on at their majestic property. Needless to say, Dunston Checks In is an all-time favorite

14/20

Tucker and Dale vs Stupidity

Tucker and Dale Vs Evil is a truly unmemorable movie. Director Eli Craig wants to take a potshot at the urban myth of the slasher hillybilly, and the potshot leaves much gore in its wake. The movie begins innocuously enough somewhere in the Appalachians. Hillybilly protagonists Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Lable) run into a bunch of college kids at a gas station, and try to strike up a conversation, and the first signs of frat pack prejudice are all too clear. And when the duo rescue the fetching Allison (Katrina Bowden) from what was a potentially fatal diving accident, the incident precipitates a chain of events where most or all of the cast is accidentally killed, in incidents that are possibly intended to be hilarious. Eventually, this movie is one for the hillybilly, though not one that the latter may want to be associated with

9.5/20

Only as the Chinese Can

Shaolin is set in the early years of the Republic of China, when warlords ruled the provinces and people lived in abject terror. Warlord Hou Jie (Andy Lau) slays his enemy in a Shaolin temple, and schemes to kill sworn brother Song Hu. In a plot that goes horribly wrong, Hou Jie finds himself losing his most precious earthly possession of all – Shengnan (Xiaoliuna) - his daughter. Distraught, Hou Jie finds his way to a Shaolin temple and rescinds his martial life. Converting to a Shaolin monk, Hou Jie finds penance in alleviating some of the suffering that he and his ilk have caused to the populace. But the winds of change – mostly negative – upon the fledgling republic are too hard to bear. Taking the incredulous action sequences that are typical of the genre to a whole new level, Shaolin is a must-watch, with one caveat - the unabashed tragedy will leave the viewer somewhat depressed

14/20

Take it Out

The life of Joel (Jason Bateman) is one of running his humdrum Extract manufacturing and packaging business, with its excruciatingly boring workforce with their excruciatingly trivial problems, a drink with longtime buddy Dean (Ben Affleck), dealing with obnoxious neighbors, and the wife who has virtually shut off conjugal bliss. On the advice of the old pal, Joel lines himself up for one on the side with hot intern Cindy (Mila Kunis), while hooking his wife up with a gigolo Step (Clifton Collins Jr). With several comic turns, this rather simply concocted movie manages to maintain the atmospheric drabness endemic to the central product and its founder, while being a mild low-key entertainer

12/20

In Hell

Why are London-based hit-men Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) stuck for two days in the cold medieval Belgian town of Bruges? They do not know, and neither does the audience. In the meantime, the architectural magnificence around him holds no charm for Ray, haunted as he is by his accidental murder of a child. What the duo do not know is kingpin Harry (Ralph Fiennes) has sent them to Bruges for a dark purpose, that will not be known till later. Against the backdrop of the beautiful and relatively unknown town, three cold-blooded murderers play out a dark comedy In Bruges. Hard-to-forget movie because of the deliberate incongruousness of it all

13.5/20

Spread Out

Contagion is a well-paced and largely gripping thriller on the spread of a highly contagious and lethal virus. The movie has one distinctive feature – somehow it manages to hold your attention in spite of every element in it being a cliché. A deadly disease that has its origins in livestock and wild animals in – where else – China. Finds its way to the top of the food chain, to none other than the travelling businesswoman Beth (Gwyneth Paltrow) and her son, but miraculously skips husband Mitch (Matt Damon). Kills millions before the desperate search for a vaccine is finally successful, thanks to the tireless efforts of Dr Orantes (Marion Cottilard) and Dr Cheever (Lawrence Fishburne). In the meantime, notable martyrs include Dr Mears (Kate Winslet), the early health worker, tireless and felled by the disease in the line of duty. The one non-cliched character is the profiteering and rumor-mongering freelancer Alan (Jude Law) – about the only character in the movie who is not a rank stereotype. In the meantime, chew a few fingernails as director Soderbergh (Solaris, Ocean’s Eleven) spreads disease and paranoia all around

13.5/20

Far Below the Belt

Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling), Junior Campaign Manager for the sitting Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney), for the Democrat Presidential primaries, learns to be beware of The Ides of March and much else besides. So what is Steve up against, really? For a start, Steve needs to understand the priorities of Senior Campaign Manager Paul (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his respective right and wrong sides. And then there is the campaign manager on the other side – Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) and the latter’s machinations. Throw in a beautiful intern – Molly (Evan Rachel Wood) and her dark secrets, a single senator – Senator Thompson (Jeffrey Wright) who could be solely holding the key to the campaign, and cut-throat journalist Ida (Marisa Tomei), and Steve may be down to his very last card in surviving the political game. And no matter who the winners and losers are in this cat-and-mouse political game, what is certain through the movie is that Steve’s brand of passion and idealism will meet a terminal end

14.5/20