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