Contrarian Rules

Dr Michael Burry PhD (Christian Bale) holds his own in his conviction about the fragility of the US economy at a time when the US housing market was seeing only go-go days. An uncertain partnership between Deutsche trader Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) and the incendiary Morgan Stanley-affiliated trader Mark Baum (Steve Carrell) also look to short the housing market in a deeply contrarian bet. Perhaps the coolest bet of all - Bloomfield Capital, a $ 30 mln fund from Boulder, Colorado, looks to working with retired banker and survivalist Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt) to go as deep as shorting AAs, in line with their strategy of picking up deep out of the money options. With inserts from an unlikely ensemble of characters that includes pop stars and celebrity chefs, The Big Short is one of the best movies that I have seen in a long time

16/20

Change of Heart

The despicable Gru (Steve Carell) is fast losing ground among the panoply of the world’s most despicable criminals. The likes of Vector (Jason Segel), young and aggressive, are the new poster boys of the financing giant The Bank of Evil. So Gru – along with the aid of evil genius scientist Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand), and the minions, sets out on an audacious project – to shrink the moon and bring it back to Earth. Even as Vector threatens to steal a march over Gru, the latter adopts three orphaned children – ostensibly to help in the accomplishment of his nefarious objective – with unexpected consequences. With sharply defined characters, especially the Scrooge-meets-The Grinch Gru, and the young and scheming Vector, Despicable Me is a treat to watch and one of the underrated animation movies of 2010

14/20

Get that Marriage Right

Remember Tina Fey? The woman who rocked the world by her hilarious impersonations of Sarah Palin? Well, here is Tina Fey as Claire Foster, in a quiet New Jersey existence with husband Phil Foster (Steve Carrell). A humdrum daily routine, quiet careers, a book club, and a Date Night every week make up their existence. This movie is about one date night that does not quite go as planned. Driven by an irrepressible desire to try something different, the couple head off to New York for a dinner at the super-exclusive “Claw” and pose as the Tripplehorns (?) in order to get a table. Accosted by two perfect strangers who believe that they are actually the Tripplehorns, Phil and Claire find themselves running for their lives across New York at night. Diving headlong into adventure, and with a little help from security expert Holbrooke Grant (Mark Wahlberg), the couple end up heroes in an unlikely adventure that, while unraveling intrigue at the highest levels in the big city, more importantly, rekindles their romance. This movie would have been a forgettable popcorn flick except for the universally recognizable nuances thrown in, about marriages and why stress arises in them, and how couples who want to make it work, well, can. Have fun with this one

13/20