The Linguist

Here is the rarest of rare opportunities for linguist Louise (Amy Adams) to show her consummate skills in interpreting cephalopod alien language. With some assistance from Ian (Jeremmy Renner), army physicist, Louise gets going on the path to preventing global catastrophe, finding love, and perhaps seeing the future. Somewhere down the line Arrival loses the script in terms of delivering a true emotional connect, Perhaps it is a lot less overwhelming than critics are currently making of it. In a genre that is increasingly taking off, this is no The Martian nor Interstellar

13.5/20

DC has answered

You need to be called Martha for all of Superman (Henry Cavill), Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) to save the world from Lex Luther (Jesse Eisenberg) and Kryptonian forces far beyond the capability of Earthly powers to fight. Batman vs Superman – Dawn of Justice begins with the dark overtones that we love in the Batman franchise, but degenerates into the relentless sfx and fighting sequences that typify the franchise. Incoherent entertainment

13.5/20

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

The Overseas Proposal

Anna Brady (Amy Adams) “stages apartments” in Boston – a career typical of a hard-driven city – that consists of decking up apartments that appeal to potential buyers’ fantasies, and then taking away the frills on the eve of a purchase. The ubiquitous boyfriend Jeremy (Adam Scott) is a cardiologist, who has been deferring the “M” plan for – 4 years and counting. Up comes a business trip to Ireland, and, drawn to a tradition of proposals on February 29th (only possible in a Leap Year) that apparently never get spurned, Anna lands up in Ireland. Ireland, not Dublin, because inclement weather and a series of mishaps to follow land her in faraway Dingle, two days’ journey from Dublin, that need to be necessarily traversed with a rickety car and one Declan (Matthew Goode) for company. The countryside is breathtaking, the unfortunate delays come thick and fast, and the stranger and his country grow on Anna. So how does it all end, then? Set against the backdrop of a country that is, refreshingly, not sepia-tinted-beautiful but rugged-beautiful, watch this movie if only to get an up close look at Hibernia, and have a comely romance playing along to boot

13.5/20

Museum of Horrors

After the first edition, one could at the very lest expect that Night at The Museum II - Battle of the Smithsonian would only build upon the excitement of museum exhibits coming alive. After all, could the theme of a museum – with untold possibilities in terms of exhibits – possibly go wrong? Yes it can. It is possible to go overboard with too many characters, completely misplace characters (a pathetically funny Kamun-ra who is neither menacing nor amusing), a Capone who has nothing to do in the movie to speak of, an Amelia Earhart who seems to have confused irrepressible flirting with a sense of adventure, and, in the middle of it all, a Ben Stiller – why he is posited as a millionaire entrepreneur in the overall context of the movie is the only mystery that lingers in my mind after this movie. One movie that I will forget overnight, not in days

7/20

Decisions, Decisions

Indian-born director Bharat Nalluri brings easy familiarity to his portrayal of a love quadrangle, and disentanglement by a governess short on luck thus far, in Miss Pettigrew Lives for A Day. What is unexpected is the near-perfect casting and depiction of London society in the 1930's. A simple movie about choices - wealth, fame, or love? - and a resolution of the same in Bollywood-like morality tale style. Nor is Miss Pettigrew left behind in the derservedness sweepstakes as she finds a man who too would like to break free from the dilletante posturing world - and the fact that he is rich, successful and handsome does not hurt one little bit. This is a movie for a day when you are short of faith in the goodness of the world, but cannot quite tolerate the saccharine overdose of Bollywood. You will find it difficult to pin down a specific reason for overly liking or disliking a movie like this one, though.