Be Real

Sitting with Rikk sleeping on my lap, on a Sunday evening, I wished for my very own six-year old that he always remains Divergent – at least all of Erudite, Dauntless and Abnegate. And this is where this piece of teen fiction-turned-movie is a winner for me. It has a core thesis – a rarity and a great find – and some great acting in terms of a very central lead Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley), who, with the weight of being a Divergent, has to find an acceptable path for herself, her affections, and her world. Well-paced, reasonably authentic, somewhat gripping, a must-watch

15/20

Don

Neither men nor women quite understand intimacy. While we have suave student Jon Martello (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) preferring the excesses of porn to the drudge of the real thing, for the so-called ideal woman Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), intimacy is about possessiveness and behavioral controls. Finally, it takes an offbeat relationship to bring some semblance of normalcy to Don Jon. Captivating, though difficult to understand the director’s intent on this one

12/20

Amazon Party

Resplendent with colour, catchy music, and a storyline that is somewhat touching in parts, Rio 2 is a winner. Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and Jewel (Anne Hathaway) head out to the Amazon to find the last of the Spix's macaws. The search results in success, but not without much adventure. Where Rio 2 is exceptional is its continuous ability to induct freshness through an all-new cast of cameo characters – sloths, mosquitoes, and turtles included

14/20

Walter out there

A quiet man – Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) sees off the last issue in print of “Life” magazine, sees the first whiff of adventure by flying to Greenland, and then to Iceland, in the footsteps of his photographer. Cast into adventure, and something akin to love, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty captures the poignancy of things that shall pass, and how we are remembered

12/20

Sinking Ark

The eponymous Noah takes the Biblical tale, rips it into shreds, and brings Hollywood-style special effects and plot twists, both of which appear utterly incongruous. Noah brings the best of Hollywood together, and buries the plot in the midst of utterly poor cinematography, poor script editing, and dialogue that seems to be delivered in discontinuous monosyllables. Strictly one to avoid, this is one ark that, for me, sinks without a trace

9/20

Stop

The featureless Non-Stop reminds one of a dozen similar movies, keeps you waiting for the /breakway feature that never materializes. The one-great and now-shunned Air Marshal (Liam Neeson) needs to find a serial killer on board a plane. He does so eventually, after some knocking around of all of the passengers and crew. Truly non-descript

10.5/20

Robotic

I like the intent behind this version of Robocop – the story of a near-dead-in-action police officer Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman), a family man – and the objectives of the megalithic Omnicorp to monetize him – turn him into an emotionless law enforcement officer - literally drowning emotions with dopamine in the process. But it does not come through in any meaningful degree. While wife Clara (Abbie Cornish) plays the wronged housewife in a totally uncharacteristic role, it is Dr. Norton (Gary Oldman) and his moral pangs that possibly lend some semblance of thespian consistency in a movie that does not leave much of a mark on the viewer

12/20

No Child’s Play

The Lego Movie does some extraordinary execution of the story of a child’s imagination. There is the simple guy – Emmet (Chris Pratt) – a construction worker whom no one notices. Emmet gets thrown into a chain of events that need him to become the Special – to find the Piece of Resistance and stop the Kragle, a weapon unleashed by Lord Business – and save the various realms of Lego world. With more than one innuendo, all of which unravel by the end of the movie, this one has more positive surprises than the "average" adult would think at the outset

14/20

Keep Discovering

The Europa Report is more about human goodness and courage than your average science fiction movie. Led by Captain William Xu (Daniel Wu), the Europa mission sets out to Europa – one of Jupiter's moons – with the mission of possibly discovering extraterrestrial life. Remoteness and the sheer inherent level of risk expose the team to fatal dangers. However, what shines through is the determination of the team to complete the mission – to communicate back to Earth that we are not alone in the universe. A must-watch on the lines of Moon and Gravity, The Europa Report demands some degree of initial patience but quickly grows on the viewer

15/20

Alone

Tough and alone, Riddick kills without compunction, finds his way around a predator-infested planet, tames a jackal as ally, lives off the land. And yes, sees off two mercenary hordes, with some lessons and reminiscing along the way. Somewhat simulation-like, Riddick is copybook one-man-army in an alien planet – good entertainment in sepia tinted hues

13/20

Fallen Demigod

The resoundingly insipid The Legend of Hercules takes the eponymous character and makes a totally blotched job on possibly all conceivable fronts. Poor cinematography, a total absence of character build-up, near-invisible visuals, a musical score that was turn-on turn-off and incongruous with the story in the background, the inexplicable hurried execution that makes the movie look more like a collection of trailers – where does one even start? The only saving grace is that with a few minor exceptions, each of the actors looked their part. If you are generally a period movie buff, I suppose this is a must-watch, simply because there is so little of the stuff going around. For anyone else, this is an unequivocal miss

9.5/20

He Wolf

For me, The Wolf of Wall Street operated at several different levels. At one level is the unavoidable allusions – the Mayflower (twice!), the crazy partying,choices related to marquee employers/small employers/entrepreneurship, the kid that’s oh so close in spite of all that is going on in life, the back pain pills – what can one say save what an outcome in spite of it all?! At another level is the debauchery, the over-the-top movie, the living-on-the-edge recklessness combined with high performance, the coke high to get over the lemmon high, perception versus reality across it all. Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Martin Scorcese come together to produce a one-of-a-kind movie that is profane, intense, irretrievably materialistic and out-and-out a one of a kind movie. Absolutely unmissable, whether you belong to the 99% or the 1%

16/20

Bengali Movie v 2.0

I went in to watch Chander Pahar expecting incongruity – the barely-peripatetic Bengali out in the open wilderness in Africa, on a treasure hunt that is not his own. The first half of the movie kind of corroborated this impression. And then came the second half. Some spiffy acting, stunning or near-stunning vistas, and the Bengali explorer Shankar (Dev) standing shoulder to shoulder with the Portuguese explorer Diego Alvarez (Gerard Rudolf). While the special effects leave a lot to be desired, the movie itself is stunning – weaving its way through the part-fiction part-reality almost-mythical lands of Africa

15.5/20

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