City of Cultural Murder

The Mortal Instruments - City of Bones is good for a laugh, and ranks somewhere between the cringe-worthy Twilight series and the downright horrific Percy Jackson series. It is quite entertaining, with the term mundane quite clearly applicable to the movie as a whole rather than merely humans. There is also the ubiquitous love triangle that makes all such movies so alluring. Stupid stuff

10/20

Frame by Frame

Not for a moment do I deny the cinematic quality, the excellent casting, the flawless special effects, and the sheer riveting spectacle that is The Hobbit - The Desolation of Smaug - the fifth installment of the LOTR/ Hobbit series. The issue is that we are perhaps too used to the excellence, and maybe the reader is left wondering just what justifiable reason could be given for stretching (by LOTR standards, a brief) novel to such lengthy proportions. Yes, it is a good watch while it is there. No, beyond a point, it is just pretty monotonous. A monotonous must-watch - a fate that i suspect that this Hollywood trend of milking franchises to the hilt will have to hear a lot more of

14.5/20

Girl on Fire

If you ignore the sheer murder of elements of ancient history – the pomp and splendor of the gladiatorial arena adorned by tributes in lycra, the hackneyed morality tale meets teen romance storyline, and the hangover of a tepid first part, The Hunger Games – Catching Fire is actually a (gasp!) taut well-narrated story. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) find themselves reluctant ambassadors for the Capital and President Snow (Donald Sutherland), and their ambivalence and potential to cause disruption is well-noted. Enter the latest edition of the games, and this time it is the 75^th edition and a kill-or-be-killed across previous winners. What the movie obviously lacks in a meaningful storyline, it makes up in some pretty cutting edge cinematography. Worth a watch and will not test your patience at all

14/20

Dark mediocrity

Thor (Chris Helmsworth) and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) re-unite to fight the forces of the dark world. The latter are the forces released on a once-in-a-millenium planetary alignment that opens up a portal somewhere in London. Thor: The Dark World Pure entertainment, largely mindless and unmemorable, reminiscent of Star Wars more than Norse fable, and set for much commercial success

11.5/20

Chris Helmsworth

Natalie Portman

Tom Hiddleston

Anthony Hopkins

Christopher Eccleston

Jaimie Alexander

Rene Russo

Stellan Skarsgard

Leading from the Front

Captain Phillips, of the movie of the same name, delights with the return of Tom Hanks, who will lead the crew of the ship Maersk Alabama through the attacks of a Somalian pirate crew. Faced off with a pirate crew led by captain Abduwali Muse (Barkhad Abdi), while the crew are overwhelmed initially, soon the power and might of the US navy overwhelm the pirates in question. The movie is not just an action sequence – it exposes the aspirations and vulnerability of a people who are facing some pretty hard choices for improving their lives. Touching not thrilling in the balance, Captain Phillips – and the men he faces off with – all all winners in this sea encounter

14.5/20

Not your Average Game

Andrew Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) is blessed (?) with the right quotient of aggression that could wipe the Formics off the face of the universe and once and for all avenge the pogrom they unleashed upon mankind. A series of trials (in near earth space in zero gravity) create the atmosphere for somewhat incongruous preparations for a final assault. And in the latter, the line between fiction and reality becomes increasingly blurred in Ender’s Game. While mildly interesting, clearly did not bowl me over unlike all the hype

13/20

Gamb-le

A heist with a simple little twist in the tale. Harry Deane (Colin Firth) is seeking to take revenge on his former boss Lord Lionel Shabandar (Alan Rickman) by stealing (or is it substituting?) a painting. He is helped by a free spirited girl from Texas PJ Puznowski (Cameron Diaz). You will not see the last twist coming – not, however, that that makes Gambit particularly remarkable

12/20

Fifth and First

The Fifth Estate profiles the groundbreaking work of Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch), whose key contribution to the noble act of whistleblowing was committing to privacy. While exposes on Julius Baer's shady clients, the goings-on of banks in Iceland and dictators in Kenya, were fairly one-sided stories, the possibility of confidential information putting people in harm's way is accentuated in the last episode of release of information of US Government war-room text messages. A good watch, though perhaps not as intense and engaging as it could have been

13/20

Proud and Strong and Made to Be Free

Mishawr Rawhoshyo (Bengali) takes the proud and unrelenting Kakababu (Prosenjit Chatterjee) to Delhi and then Egypt, to discover the true secret behind certain Egyptian hieroglyphics. Aided by cousin Shontu (Aryann Bhowmik), and an uncertain relationship with the revolutionary-at-large Hani Alkadi (Indraneil Sengupta), Kakababu gets on a search for the truth, fraught with danger, where friends such as the businessman Al Mamun (Rajit Kapur) may not be what they seem. A fitting end to Ashtami/ Nabami this year

13.5/20

What-ever

...and this is where I part ways with the Vigil Idiot. A movie like Chennai Express (Hindi) was not meant to make any sense whatsoever. There is the cast of characters - the boy who has scant regard for tradition, the feisty girl who is the daughter of a South Indian .. er... thug, who finally ropes him in, the illogical sequences and songs... why was it ever supposed to make any sense?! Which does not take away from the fact that the movie does drag in parts

12/20

Grave Challenges

Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity is one to be remembered for excruciating attention to detail. Two astronauts - Ryan (Sandra Bullock) and Matt (George Clooney) - out to repair the Hubble space telescope - are hit by flying debris, and it is a war for survival from there on - played out in absolute silence. Unmissable, for the level.of detailed rendition. Highly recommended

15.5/20

Jobs

While Jobs has opened to somewhat justified mixed reviews, what is indisputable is that pretty much any movie about the life of Steve Jobs is bound to be an inspirational tale. Pure genius combined with force of personality and extreme perfectionism - Jobs shows the copybook old-school recipe for success, with enough and more roadkill on the way. The movie does trail off somewhat abruptly at the beginning of Jobs' second innings. Notwithstanding the indisputable scope of better execution on almost all fronts, Jobs is a pretty decent watch

14/20

Death Race

Rush captures the 1976 formula season - a headlong battle between the flamboyant Brit James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth)  and the ultra-disciplined Nikki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl). Well developed characters, pretty vivid depictions of the tensions on the track. Yet another resounding success from Ron Howard (of Apollo 13, the da Vinci Code, A Beautiful Mind) fame

15.5/20

Adamant(ium) with Japan

Here is a prequel that is unabashedly made for Japanese audiences. With a few skirmishes with Yakuza gangsters and atop bullet trains thrown in for effect in the balance this prequel feels more like a Japanese sitcom with the occasional technological gizmo, or odd ninja, thrown in. Using just about every stereotypical element that one can imagine in a movie that is wholly set in Japan, The Wolverine is unmitigatedly directionless and needs to trail off with the promise of the return of the X-Men for any impact at all

10.5/20

House Down Part Deux

What were the odds of two near-adjacent posts on this blog, both based on movies about the White House going down? This time it is the disgruntled weapons lobby, led by the US President Sawyer’s (Jamie Foxx) former head of security detail – Martin Walker (James Woods) – and a team of mercenaries – that take over the White House over a series of bombings, gunfights, and hostage-takings. Once again it is up to an underdog – out-of-favour Cale (Channing Tatum), out on an ostensibly harmless White House tour with daughter Emily (Joey King), to save the White House and by implication the world. White House Down is a tad more believable than Olympus Has Fallen, with a lot more detail, and never a dull moment

13/20

Pacific Threats

Gigantic sea creatures called the Kaiju come through the Breach – a portal at the bottom of the Pacific – and start devastating cities along the Pacific Rim. Manking designs the Jaeger (robot) program to take on the Kaiju – and succeeds. Till the Jaeger program finds itself questioned, and competing with the Wall, and failures of the Jaegers to take on the particularly larger and more difficult of the Kaiju. However, when the Wall shows the proverbial cracks, and it is again the Jaegers that hold back the Kaiju in Sydney, it is back to the remnants of the Jaeger Program, led by a marginalized Pentecost (Idris Elba), and a notable robot – Gipsy Danger – driven by Becket (Charlie Hunnam) and Mako (Rinko Kikuchi), to save the day and the world. In the words of Del Toro himself, this is no "super-brooding, super-dark, cynical summer movie", and the focus is purely on "big, beautiful, sophisticated visuals". In that he succeeds, but one cannot help feeling that the execution could have been just a little bit better with a little more development of the human characters, especially given the backdrop of shared adversity

13.5/20

Suited to Kill

Suits (TV Series) is the story of the eponymous New York city law firm Pearson Hardman, centered around precocious kid Mike Ross (Patrick J Adams) and mentor and fast riser Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht). With the support of Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres), and a few allies including rookie Rachel (Meghan Markle) and spunky secretary Donna (Sarah Rafferty), the duo take on unusual client cases, and the likes of disgruntled partner Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman). Suits is a fun watch, perhaps with a weaker cast than say Boston Legal, and weaker cases too – but then Suits makes do… by and large

13.5/20

Another Falling

Out-of-favour Presidential security guard Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) finds himself pitted against a veritable army from North Korea, that somehow manages to mobilize an inconceivably large quantity of people, arms and ammunition, and lays siege to the White House. Full of as many inexplicable moments as there are gun battles (President's son rescued, yet President Asher (Aaron Eckhart) meekly hands over the Cereberus code; the Cereberus code and their failsafes are located in the same physical location - and would  instantly set off the entire US nuclear arsenal when called upon (!!!); the strange and incongruous motivation of Forbes to side with... er... North Koreans), and with a more than decent cast and screenplay trying to rescue an impossible-to-justify storyline, Olympus has Fallen singularly fails to make sense, let alone impress

10.5/20

Welcome to the Planet

Man of Steel owes its excellent execution of a hackneyed genre to some spot-on casting, and a Superman that cuts across a wide swath of dramatic turns - from saving cities and counterattacking aliens in space, to being mama's boy in a remote corner in Kansas. Superman/Clark Kent/ Kal-El (Henry Cavill) is supported particularly well by one Lois Lane (Amy Adams) of insatiable curiosity, and father Jor-El (Russell Crowe) who lives on in spirit - and as an uploaded intelligence over time. The story begins with Jor-El defying usurper General Zod (Michael Shannon) and transporting Kal-El through space to Earth. The same Earth, that becomes the target for Zod as he resurrects himself, and tries to terraform Earth into a Krypton-like world, and wipe out the human race in the process. Hopefully, Kal-El will find the humanity to bridge the races rather than have one survive at the expense of the other. Excellent rendition of a copybook franchise, and a near-unmissable summer entertainer

14.5/20

Dark Horses

Four magicians - Daniel (Jesse Eisenberg), Henley (Isla Fisher), Jack (Dave Franco) and Merritt (Woody Harrelson) - get a mysterious summons that is later found to be from one Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine). The four maricians form the Four Horsemen - who put up a show in Vegas that unbelievably has a man from teh audience rob a bank in Paris, and distribute the largesse to the attendees. The act of crime, however benevolent, does not go unnoticed, and the quartet soon find tenacious detectives Dylan (Mark Ruffalo) and Alma (Melanie Laurent) hot on their trail. But is that really an accurate picture of the goings-on, or, in the true nature of magic, are we seeing less the closer we get? Now you See Me is no The Prestige, but what it lacks in dark noir intensity, it more than makes up in a never-a-dull-moment script with a cops-and-robbers sequence interspersed by some pretty spectacular magic shows

14/20