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

Stalking and Entering

Mickey Rourke continues where he left off with The Wrestler, and in the tradition of gracefully ageing Hollywood stars, to deliver quiet menace as a cold blooded murderer in Killshot. Diane Lane and Thomas Jane (the Colsons) are witness to a crime, enter witness protection, and then are hunted down by Armand “The Blackbird” Degas (Mickey Rourke) and the hare-brained violence-prone character of Richie Nix (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). The performances are hard, the pace engaging, the outcome uncertain till the last minute. This is the return of the unadulterated thriller. Best watched in a movie hall, though. What next from Mickey Rourke I wonder? Or from John Madden (the class that brought you Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and Proof clearly shining through)

14.5/20

Children of Modern Men

Currently, The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499448/) vies with Iron Man (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371746/) for the US box office sweepstakes (#1 and #2 respectively) as well as remarkably high accolades (8.0 and 8.3 respectively on IMDB, currently). The latter is truly a remarkable movie. It is my hypothesis that the birth of the genre called the graphic novel has lifted the comic genre to a whole new stratosphere of consummate acting and emotive drama, with the so-called superpowers as a mere backdrop. Batman Begins starts the trend to my mind, and it shown so signs of abatement till I guess the Disney pantheon is exhausted. And of Prince Caspian - well, what can I say save it is a children's movie and best not reviewed by me. And with all due credit to authors and scriptwriters of *similar* genre, teleportation from London's subways and LOTR like vistas are beginning to get me down more than a little

Diane Lane (and Donald Sutherland) excel in Fierce People (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401420/) but the movie certainly does not. The analogy that runs through the movie is a fairly weak hypothesis, the similarity of tribal ritual and those of the well-heeled - well, whoever labelled the latter as saints anyway? The tribal inserts are discordant at times and one cannot help but think that there is a singularly misplaced expectation that the audience expects some form of "barbaric/ primitive" behavior from the tribe, which the moviemaker is at pains to persuade is surpassed by the urban rich. A bit of a wasted effort, really

Mixed bag

Many years of *not watching much by way of movies* can lead to many years of glorious catching up! Chinatown (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071315/) is the kind of movie that one would dread reviewing, possible but not probable that one would be able to add much by way of fresh thought on what has been called in multiple fora as the "Finest Film of the 70's" and is in any case anthologized to weariness. Jack Nicholson is superlative, Roman Polanski signs off with a (wholly unnecessary?) macabre end. Made me think of cliches of brittleness and futility of life than suspense and the politics of water, really. Film noir calls for careful exploration

With a lot less trepidation, I write on Monty Python and the Holy Grail (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071853/), pretty much popcorn to Chinatown's complex concoction. Comedic capers and Brit wit, and what really stands out for me is being relevant and genuinely funny thirty years down. Not a mean acheivement. And a hilarious one, too

Back to times more contemporary. Edward Norton remains a favourite, and neither American History X (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120586/) nor Primal Fear (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117381/) in the least diminish. What would you say of this man in the former (juxtaposed as he is against a young and impressionable Edward Furlong (T2 etc))? I would say that Mr Norton is as accomplished an actor as any, carries off venal hatred and cold malice well, but unlike many that deviate and die, is prone to morality tales - American History X, and Kingdom of Heaven and Fight Club to boot, have him "come round" and question his chosen path. Not so Primal Fear. It is exciting as Anthony Hopkins is exciting as Hannibal, and it is unapologetic and unredeemed. One wishes the actor really gave us some notice of where his heart really lies. Richard Gere - well, I didn't quite get what the fuss with his performance was all about - much like George Clooney in Michael Clayton, I'd say - reserved, strong and ordinary

Cast of The Great Debaters on Oprah

In other noteworthy movies I have seen of late, Barton Fink indulgently questions creativity - both the Hollywood Movie Mogul kind and the Broadway inspired scriptwriter kind. Yet again Forest Whittaker and Denzel Washington dazzle us in The Great Debaters, another pre-affirmative action movie, this time with a debate team of a *negro* college taking on Harvard and winning - some of the debates make for good listening, Indian viewers may well like the repeated references to Gandhi, a contemporary in the 1930s setting of the movie. Untraceable is the periodic catharsis of out Internet-and-all-that-it-purports conscience and one cannot help wondering whether parts of the movie were not meant to titillate. No such *moral ambuiguities* in P2, your regular urban horror flick - I only chose this movie because Rachel Nichols looks remarkably attractive in it!

Scenes from P2

Whew.

Its 2.50AM. Would like to catch up tomorrow on The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - I am not a reader of the series but it does seem to be more substantial than ridiculously ageing wizards