Engineering Marvel

What is engineering - applied science - all about? It is about solving problems one by one, rigorously, from first principles, till a specific and possibly difficult goal is acheived. What if that goal were to be to return to Earth? Botanist and astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) shows us how engineering is done. I have as of yesterday been totally floored by The Martian, and its rigorous step-by-step engineering approach to problem solving, which quote frankly I cannot recall seeing in any other movie thus far. This is an absolute must-watch, and this is the sort of movie that twenty years later some scientists will quote as the early inspiration for their chosen path in life

16.5/20

Unconvincing but sweet

The Intern brings an old timer Ben (Robert De Niro) into the fast paced world of a fashion ecommerce startup in the heart of Brooklyn, led by one driven supermom and super-entrepreneur Jules (Anne Hathaway) who is living life on a treadmill and needs to sort out her priorities at both home and the workplace. This is a heartwarming movie, though not entirely convincing. Glad that Anne Hathaway has let go of the catsuit to get into roles that are more in character

13.5/20

Secret

Kingsman the Secret Service. Missed it in theatres, saw it after many weeks. Well made and uncomplicated. 14/20

2 movies over this weekend...

Hitman Agent 47: A woman searches for a man in Berlin, does not know why. Does not know why she is being chased by hitmen, and who's on her side and who is not. Better than other reviews would suggest. Damn these people with their fascination for big stars! This is good stuff. 14/20

Transporter Refueled: I rather liked this one. Been a while we saw an action hero, not full of himself to the point of obnoxiousness, in the beautiful French Riviera. More than passable thespian skills. 13.5/20

Pirates in Deed

Pirates of Silicon Valley (2009): The first edition of the epic war between Gates and Jobs. Exciting little-known movie. well-rendered. 15.5/20

Much castigated, not fantastic but passable

The Fantastic Four delves on the origins of the team that develops teleportation in a garage. Exciting stuff by and large, much panned by critics. I give it 13.5/20 because its a good movie and i dont get what the negative vibes are all about

The 3 movies on Independence Day

Home: Animation. 14.5/20. Oh and Kip find humanity and save the planet too. A cute version of ET

Brothers: Hindi. 13/20. Akshay Kumar is fit but too old for this league. Siddharth Malhotra shows that an Indian MMA movie need not look wholly incredulous

Shaun the Sheep. 15.5/20. A flock of sheep brave the big city and save their farmer who has lost his memory. Cant believe i wrote that. Excellent execution wrt the simplest of topics

And a couple more..

Predestination. 15/ 20. Sheer brilliance in this dizzyingly looping time travel plot. Ethan Hawke excels

Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol. 12/20. IMF rejustifies ots existence, changes female lead, staples on Alec Baldwin, travels the world. Does a few hackneyed acts of stupendous courage. Unimagimative.

Some more quick ratings

Minions 14.5/ 20 Clear charming quirky winner
Ant Man 14.5/ 20 Marvel disses mayhem for a simple funny storyline
Survivor 14/20 Milla Jovovich shows us what it takes to keep a ruthless Pierce Brosnan at bay across 2 continents

Intentionally blank

In summary - last 3 months

Not getting time to write reviews, so here is a quick summay of a few good ones:

Detctive Byomkesh Bakshi 15.5/20 Review to follow
Fast and Furious 7 14/20 Review to follow
The Water Diviner 14/20 Review to follow
Piku (Hindi) 13/20
Mad Max Fury Road 14/20
Terminator Genisys 12.5/20
Inside Out (Animation, Disney) 15.5/20

Travails on Silk Route

Dragon Blade is an ambitious "Asian" attempt at measuring up the might of an "Asian" alliance - Chinese, Indians, Huns, Parthians - against the power and might of the Roman Empire and the latter's warring factions - in a face-off to control the fate of the fabled Silk Road, during the Han Dynasty. Keeper of the Peace along the Silk Road - Huo An (Jackie Chan) - finds himself first at odds with Roman general Lucius (John Cusack) and then inseparable allies with the latter, as they join hands against the imperialist ambitions of Tiberius (Adrien Brody). Quite the entertainer, and a niche hit, with the realism of hand to hand combat being the positive highlight, that is somewhat marred by some kinks and melodrama in the storyline

14.5/20

Crack the Whip

Whiplash is a story of intensity, of burning ambition. Andrew (Miles Teller) is an aspiring junior drummer who is trying to put up with the hard driving Fletcher (JK Simmons) and his ruthless training style, to make it to the "core" of the band. Master and pupil collaborate and clash - in a game that can elevate Andrew to the greats of jazz, or destroy him forever

16/20

Soaring

Riggan (Michael Keaton) aka Birdman - a stereoytped actor from yesteryears, is attempting to resurrect his career in the face of a hostile and unrelenting media reception, estranged daughter Sam (Emma Stone), demanding method actor Mike (Edward Norton) whom he cannot do without - but most of all the ghosts of Birdman lurking in his mind, that are telling him to let go of Broadway ambitions, and pander to the kitschy tastes of his loyal audience. Brilliantly executed, somewhat predictable, full of allegory. Well-packaged Academy Awards candidate

15/20

We run the Night

Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), out of work and with a criminal record, finds an outlet for his burning ambition by entering the world of crime journalism. Disturbingly real, and with cringe-worthy acts from Louis that make sure that he gets the most shocking story every night and drives up TRPs, and with a partnership with the morning news director of a deadbeat news channel – Nina (Rene Russo), Louis finds that crime – or its grisly aftermath – does pay, and how. Handling competition and crime victims with a ruthlessness that borders on psychopathy, this Nightcrawler is a must watch, perhaps not for casual family viewing

16/20

Good Show Baby!

After the fiasco of Indian super-heroes and secret agents in overhyped movies like Bang Bang and Happy New Year, the success of which frankly speaks very poorly of the tastes of the Indian movie-goer, comes a convincing action thriller from the Akshay Kumar stable. Baby (Hindi) is a covert outfit pulled together post the 2008 December Mumbai attacks – its objective is covert ops, its identity a closely held secret, its mission always under a cloak of plausible deniability. Spanning across Istanbul, Nepal and Saudi Arabia, Baby pulls it off – not slick, but somewhat stodgy and believable, with believable characters. Nicely done guys

15/20

Inimitable

‘Tis the Oscar season and I was wondering why The Imitiation Game, centered around one Alan Turing and his involvement with cracking Enigma – the German cipher – and greatly influencing the course of the Allies’ victory in World War II – has got some 8 nominations. After watching the movie, I ceased to wonder. Benedict Cumberbatch, not short in the sterling performances department, gives the performance of a lifetime. The relationship between Alan and Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley) is strongly reminiscent of that between Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly in A Beautiful Mind. Here is a genius – narcissistic, lonely, estranged and utterly convinced. And he changes the world completely – ends the greatest war in human history, and basically invents the computer to boot (no pun intended). Stunning character acting. Unmissable by leaps and bounds

16.5/20

A Killing in Kolkata

Directed by Arindam Sil, Ebar Shabor is a convincing Bengali whodunit in a season crowded with Feluda and Byomkesh. Unlike the latter two, Shabor (Saswata Chatterjee) is a police detective and has no airs about him. One Mitali (Swastika Mukherjee) gets murdered in the wee hours of a party at her house. Could it be the work of Mithu (Abir Chatterjee), the once-spurned husband, now in love with Mitali's sister Joyeeta (Payel Sarkar). Could it be a briefly-married to and now on hard times Pantu (Ritwick Chakraborty). Or could it be the flamboyant Samiran (Rahul Banerjee), spurned by Mitali? A well-woven storyline that keeps the viewer engaged, and while not truly twist-in-the-tale stuff, is definitely not a predictable thriller. In the crop of recent Bengali movies, this is a must-watch

14.5/20

Over to the Shire

In 2001 began a journey for me, sitting in IIMB campus, with Frodo Baggins, aided by Aragorn, Legolas, the dwarves, and the one and only Gandalf. The journey ended with The Hobbit – The Battle of the Five Armies. It is thus with a twinge of more than a little nostalgia, then, that I pen this review. Executed with the same standards of excellence that we have come to expect of the franchise, the latest movie is particularly notable for the emotional turns of Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) – the lure of gold, and the eventual return to nobility. In this edition, the five armies – dwarves, elves and men, face off against the orcs, and a fifth army joins and eventually tips the balance. Brilliant action scenes and depiction of the sheer ambiguity of alliances and their fall-outs make The Hobbit – The Battle of the Five Armies – quite exceptional. A must watch – but then if you have been with the series, that hardly needs any iteration

16/20

Earth and its Idiosyncracies

Pk is a reasonably engaging if totally hackneyed movie that, in the vein of several hindi movies, rather obviously tugs at the emotional heartstrings of the average Bollywood movie-goer. With a central theme of cutting through religious divides, the movie passes through beautiful Bruges and the pot-pourri of Delhi, and plays out a delectable love triangle in the most tangential of ways. Pk (Aamir Khan) plays out his role convincingly in what is an unoriginal but engaging script

10/20